


Hiccup in Darkness

by Ethril



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Blindness, Disability, Gen, Hurt, Running Away, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-09-25 19:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9840860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethril/pseuds/Ethril
Summary: Blinded while saving a fellow Berkian during a dragon raid, Hiccup Haddock struggles to find a way to be at least somewhat useful to his tribe. One day he finally gives up hope and wanders into the forest hoping to find a swift death only to stumble upon something that will change his life forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm transferring this story over from Fanfiction.net. This is a decision I've been considering for a long time honestly. I'll still update my old stories over at ff.net along side the ones I transfer over here, but all my new stories will be posted here instead of ff.net.

Summary: Blinded while saving a fellow Berkian during a dragon raid, Hiccup Haddock struggles to find a way to be at least somewhat useful to his tribe. One day he finally gives up hope and wanders into the forest hoping to find a swift death only to stumble upon something that will change his life forever.

Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned How To Train Your Dragon (or the tv series or the sequel).

Eternal Night

Chapter 1

The sounds of roaring dragons filled the predawn air rousing the slumbering Vikings and pulling them from their beds. Experience from fighting dragons for generations took over and many Vikings were already dressed and wielding weapons before they were even fully awake. Their battle cries joined with the cries of the dragons helping to awaken even the deepest of sleepers.

One such heavy sleeper only finally jolted awake when something heavy and large hit the roof of his home. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third jolted upright and looked around frantically to try and locate what had pulled him from his sleep.

The battle outside filtered through his jumbled nerves and realization finally dawned on him. There was yet another dragon raid going on in the village of Berk.

Quickly Hiccup jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes. Even Viking children had jobs to do during dragon raids and even though Hiccup was a scrawny fishbone of a boy he too had to prove his worth. Although he couldn't heft a hammer or throw an axe Hiccup knew how to sharpen the tools used to fight off the dragons. He was going to be needed down at Gobber's shop.

With his shoes finally on his feet Hiccup darted out of his home. A blast of fire from a sleek, red, and huge monstrous nightmare shot over his head making the scrawny preteen duck down and cover his head. This did not stop him nor make him turn around to hide in the comfort of his home; no it only spurred him forward.

It wasn't the fire or the dragons that Hiccup had trouble dodging in the midst of battle, it was the large and bulky Vikings waving around their very dangerous weapons. At one point a powerful blast from a flyby Gronkle sent Hiccup sprawling onto the ground.

One of the passing Vikings bent down haphazardly and roared in his face only to smile a half second later to greet him with a 'morning'.

Hiccup picked himself up and dashed off once again. The blacksmith shop was all the way at the other end of the village and he had to get there before one of the more intelligent Viking adults stopped him to escort him back to his home. Technically the runty Viking wasn't supposed to be outside during dragon raids.

As he ran, weaved, and dodged the much larger Viking adults he heard a variety of comments thrown his way such as 'get back inside!' and 'what're you doin' here?' He ignored them all as he ran as fast as his thin legs could carry him.

Suddenly his running came to a halt as he was lifted up into the air by the back of his shirt. It was a good thing he'd been grabbed or else he would have run straight into a monstrous nightmare's blast.

"Hiccup! What is he doing…? What are you doing out?" The particularly large Viking that had grabbed him demanded. Hiccup looked at him sheepishly noting the signed red beard hair and the splatter of blood on the Vikings hammer. "Get inside!"

Hiccup felt himself thrown forward and towards the shop that he'd only been a few yards away from when he'd been grabbed. For a moment Hiccup looked back at the Viking and the only thing he could think was that the great Viking Chief Stoick the Vast looked even more commanding and impressive during battle.

Hiccup watched the Chief turn to one of his Vikings for an update on the battle. There was a blast from behind Stoick and the Viking that had been speaking rapidly covered his head with his shield. Stoick absently swept a flaming piece of debris off of his shoulder plate and continued to look around.

Finally Hiccup made it to his destination. He skidded to a halt after propelling himself into the shop and past the one armed, one legged Gobber.

"Nice of you to join the party!" Gobber shouted as he hammered at a bent and twisted blade of a sword with his prosthetic hand that currently acted as a hammer. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

Hiccup grabbed his apron and threw it on. "Wha- Who me? No, come on, I'm way too muscular for their taste." The preteen grinned as he flexed his way below average arms and then put Gobber's prosthetic Warhammer hand away on its shelf.

This sort of banter was normal for the blacksmith and his apprentice and it helped to make Hiccup feel included during the raid; like he was actually being useful.

Ever since he could remember Hiccup had spent his days at Gobber's side learning about how to heat metal and hammer it to his will. Even when he'd been too small to do anything more than pump the bellows he'd been learning from Gobber. His father hadn't really protested this interest that Hiccup had had; in fact his father had encouraged Hiccup to go to Gobber for training. His father had hoped that working with the heavy tools would put some sort of muscle on Hiccup's meek and tiny frame.

"They need toothpicks don't they?" Gobber commented as Hiccup threw open the shop's wooden window shutters. Even before the windows were fully open Vikings were crowding around with their dull and damaged weapons.

Hiccup gathered up the weapons placed before him and awkwardly carried them over to the burning coals. He put them in the center of the coals as best he could and then used his entire body to push down on the bellows. Air was blasted onto the coals and they heated to a red hot glow. The metal that sat on the coals began to glow red from the heat.

Once the coals were blazing Hiccup went back to the window to grab more of the weapons that had been left there. He heard Gobber move behind him to grab a sword from the heat so he could pound it out.

"Fire!" Hiccup heard someone yell and he anxiously leaned out of the shop window. He grinned as he watched other tribe preteens run past him carrying buckets full of water to put out the fire that had been set by a passing dragon.

Hiccup took a mental tally of which of the preteens ran past him. He glanced at the large and round boy named Fishlegs that was covered in a fur shirt vest. Close behind him was his dark haired cousin Snotlout. Even though his cousin was only a little bit taller than Hiccup was he was a great deal more muscular.

Then came the blond twins as they tugged and argued over the bucket they cared. They were thin and walked with a little bit of a hunch. He frowned at them a little as he noticed a bit of an insane grin on their faces. Even though they'd been put on the bucket brigade to put out dragon fire the twins seemed to enjoy the pyrotechnics a little too much.

And then there was the tall, already developed, blond, graceful, and lovely Astrid. He watched as she threw her bucket of water onto the closest flames and then turned to head back to the water carrier. A blast went off right behind her and the heat of the flames warmed Hiccup's face and he couldn't help but admire how the light danced around Astrid. Her knee length spiked skirt waved around her and she flicked her head back to get her bangs out of her face.

For a moment the small preteen was tempted to jump out of the shop's window so he could go join the other preteens in the bucket brigade. 'Their jobs are so much cooler.' He thought to himself as he patted at his apron.

Before he even got the chance to even lean out of the window a hooked prosthetic hand lifted him up and pulled him back into the shop.

"Oh come on! Let me out, please?" Hiccup begged as he was set down well away from the window. "I need to make my mark!"

Gobber rolled his eyes at Hiccup's begging. "Oh you've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places!" The broad and chubby Viking poked at Hiccup to push him back towards the sharpening wheel.

"Please! Just two minutes. I'll kill a dragon." Hiccup pleaded futilely. "My life will get infinitely better!" His voice dropped a bit. "I might even get a date!" He flung his arm out and then let it drop to try and prove his point.

Gobber started listing off various weapons Hiccup couldn't use and reasons why Hiccup wouldn't be able to kill a dragon. With each fact pointed out Hiccup felt his shoulders droop lower and lower. Gobber lifted up one of his bolas as a last example only for it to be grabbed by a passing Viking and thrown.

"Ok fine," Hiccup said as he looked around and then hurried back to one of his many contraptions. "But this will throw it for me!" Even at his slightest touch his bola thrower sprang open sending the preloaded bola out of the shop where it hit one of the waiting Vikings.

Hiccup winced a little and shouted a sorry. "It just has a mild calibration issue!" He insisted when Gobber advanced on him.

"If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons," Gobber said as he lifted his hands up and then brought them back down to get Hiccup's attention. "You need to stop all-" Gobber's hands faltered in the air before he pointed at Hiccup. He gestured in the air around Hiccup for a moment before his hands froze to on either side of Hiccup. "This."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and his shoulders slumped down. "But you just pointed to all of me." How was he supposed to prove his worth and kill a dragon if he had to stop being who he was?

This wasn't the first time he and Gobber had had this argument. Hiccup refused to believe that he had to give up who he was just so he could fit in with the other Vikings in the tribe. He couldn't exactly change his physical form so he had to find a way to compensate for his lack of musculature. His mind was all he had.

A dull sword was thrust into Hiccup's hands before he had time to continue the argument. With a huff Hiccup carried the blade over to the sharpening wheel and kicked the pedal to make it spin. As he pressed the edge of the blade to the spinning wheel sparks flew off.

As he watched the sparks Hiccup began devising a plan to get out of the shop so he could go and kill one of the dragons attacking the village. One by one he went through the list of the usual dragons and wondered which he would be able to shoot down. Even if the only dragon he got was a Gronkle at least he would be able to prove to everyone once and for all he wasn't just a useless fishbone!

Hiccup knew which dragons he'd have the most luck with and he knew which dragons he should avoid. But there was one dragon that he knew that if he could take it down he'd be forever hailed a hero in the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.

Now the question was when would he get the chance to go out of the shop and out from under Gobber's nose?

A high pitch whistling in the air was exactly what Hiccup wanted to hear. He could hear people yelling about the Night fury even as it blasted its way through one of the catapult towers.

"Man the fort, Hiccup," Gobber said as he exchanged his hammer prosthetic for his axe. "They need me out there." With that the one legged blacksmith of a Viking lumbered out of the shop and into the fray.

This was it! This was the chance Hiccup had been waiting for! Without a moment of hesitation Hiccup grabbed his bola shooter and wheeled it out of the shop so he could get it up a clear vantage spot.

Just as he was hurrying through the crowds of Vikings a particular blast caught his attention. Hiccup came to a screeching halt and looked towards the lone girl that had picked up a discarded axe.

"Astrid?" Hiccup said aloud as he watched in shock and a little bit of dismay as the Viking girl squared off with a particularly nasty looking Monstrous Nightmare. "Astrid don't!" Hiccup yelled to try and get her attention.

Even though it was well known that Astrid would be one of the best shield maidens in the tribe, she and the other preteens had not gone through dragon training yet. She had very little idea as to what she was going to do against the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Not now Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she hefted the axe she'd grabbed from one hand to the other. She didn't even look at the runt of a preteen as she and the monstrous nightmare slowly circled each other.

At one point the long and horned dragon darted in to snap at Astrid making her dart backwards and swing her axe in its directly. From her view point Astrid could only see the monstrous nightmare in front of her so she had no idea what else was going on.

Hiccup on the other hand was far enough away that he could see not only the monstrous nightmare, but also what was going on behind Astrid.

The nightmare had been devious in its manipulation of Astrid. While the two had been circling each other a nadder had moved in from behind to wait for its chance to attack. Just as Astrid had her back to the nadder the monstrous nightmare darted in to make her back up into the sneak attack.

"No-" Hiccup mumbled as time seemed to slow to a crawl. He watched as the nadder lifted its tail, preparing to fling its spikes at Astrid from behind.

Without even thinking about what would happen, or even coming up with a plan, Hiccup dropped his hold on his bola thrower and made a mad dash for Astrid. Time seemed to pick back up just as he reached her, his hand outstretched to push the young preteen girl out of the way.

Angry blue eyes glared at Hiccup in disbelief as she was pushed away. She stumbled back and landed heavily on the ground. "Hiccup what the hell?" She demanded as she looked up just in time to see the nadder's spikes fly through the air.

Hiccup really had been just in time. He'd had just enough strength to push Astrid to the ground when the first of the spikes injured him. The sharp spike hit the side of his face, gashing open a wound that went from one corner of his eye, across the bridge of his nose, and across his other eye.

The auburn haired preteen screamed in agony as his world suddenly turned red. The pain from his eyes was intense enough that he didn't even notice a second spike as it embedded itself in his shoulder.

Astrid's eyes went wide as Hiccup went to his knees and covered his bleeding face with his shaking hands. Only then did she realize that Hiccup had saved her from being impaled by the nadder that had snuck up behind her.

Frozen in shock Astrid couldn't even yell for help as the monstrous nightmare burst into flames and stalked closer to the two fallen preteens. It was only luck that several adults noticed them as they were rushing past to chase after another dragon.

"H-Hiccup?" Astrid asked softly as she crawled over to the fallen boy. "Hiccup let me see." Astrid commanded as she reached out to grab onto one of Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup jerked away and shook his head weakly against his hands. He needed to apply pressure to the wounds on his face to try and slow the bleeding. Even though he couldn't see it, he could feel just how wet his hands were from his blood.

"What is going on over here?!" A thundering voice yelled making Hiccup whimper and shrink in on himself. Now he was in trouble; his father had arrived.

"Chief!" Astrid yelled over the yelling of the Vikings that were fighting off the monstrous nightmare and deadly nadder. "Hiccup's hurt!"

Stoick the Vast paled and scowled as he charged through the fighting to get over to the two huddled preteens.

"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled as he took a moment to hit the monstrous nightmare with his hammer to slow it down for the other Vikings. "I told you to stay inside!" He stormed over to his son and ignoring both Hiccup's and Astrid's protests he wrenched hiccup's hands away from his face.

"D-dad!" Hiccup said as he stared blindly up at where he thought his father was. "I'm sorry!" He hadn't meant to get hurt; he had only wanted to help!

"Oh…Oh Hiccup." Stoick fell back a step as he stared at the gruesome wounds on Hiccup's face. "Why couldn't you have just followed my orders." He said angrily as he picked up his son. Stoick winced when Hiccup seemed to shrink away from his anger and the man had to fight not to keep yelling. He was more angry with himself then at his son; why hadn't he been able to better protect the frail small boy?

"Please chief! He saved me." Astrid said hurriedly to try and get him to stop being so angry at Hiccup. "I thought I could take on the nightmare myself! I didn't see the nadder!" Her words were rushed as she fought to make Stoick understand.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Hiccup mumbled over and over as he covered his face with his hands again. He still didn't feel the nadder spike in his shoulder even as his father jostled him around. He could only feel and hear his father running; to where he had no idea.

Astrid chased after her chief as he practically ran through the partially destroyed village. The sun was coming up and most of the dragons had flown away at the first sign of the rays of light.

Stoick made his way past the smoking rubble and up to the Great Hall where the civilians, children, and the elderly waited for the raid to end. "GOTHI!" Stoick yelled as he kicked open the door to the great hall.

Hiccup was feeling very light headed as he heard his father yell for the tribe's elder. There was a scrambling sound as he heard a lot of people moving out of the way.

"Son, you need ta uncover your eyes." Stoick said as he knelt down so the diminutive elder woman could get a look at Hiccup.

Hiccup felt like fighting that order, he really did, but what could he do? Gothi would know what to do to heal his injuries and the only way for her to even get a look at them was for him to move his hands. Still…the darkness from his hands was better than the searing pain he felt whenever he tried to open his eyes and look around.

A small and gentle hand touched his wrist and Hiccup jerked away. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He started mumbling again as he heard a tapping sound on the stone floor. His father started moving again and after a minute Hiccup felt himself being lowered onto a hard wooden surface.

"Hold him still." Hiccup heard his father order and suddenly there were hands pulling his hands away from his face. The young teen winced at the sound of the people gasping and he wished he could just curl up into a ball to get away from them all.

"Chief! Chief, please don't be mad." Hiccup turned his head towards the sound of Astrid's out of breath voice.

There was a shuffling sound and Hiccup could hear his father talking to Astrid quietly a few feet away.

"This is gonna hurt boy." One of the Vikings holding him down said before reaching up to wrap his large hand around the nadder spike that was still in his shoulder.

It was only when the spike was yanked free of his shoulder that Hiccup realized he'd even had it there in the first place. A scream of pain caught in his throat and he chocked for a moment. He struggled to breathe through the new pain.

"I'm amazed he's still conscious." Hiccup's head swam as his ears seemed to catch everything that was being said around. "-heard he saved the Hofferson girl." There were too many voices crowding around him. For a moment he wondered why everything was so dark. "Death would have been kinder for him."

That last statement was the last thing he heard before Hiccup finally passed out from the pain and blood loss.

"Well?" Stoick demanded only to lower his voice when Gothi made a shushing motion at him. "How is he?"

The elderly woman huffed and drew several figures on the ground below before grabbing some of the healing salve to rub onto Hiccup's wounds.

"She says the wound on his shoulder will heal fine, but the ones on his face-" Gobber's voice faded as he stared sadly down at what Gothi had written. "I'm so sorry Stoick…"

Stoick glared at the silent old woman and then at Gobber. "What? What is wrong with my son?"

Gobber rubbed his neck for a moment with his good hand. "She says…the damage is extensive…Hiccup will probably be blind."

Silence filled the Great Hall as Stoick the Vast faltered and went to his knees. "I failed him." He mumbled weakly as he stared at his unconscious son. "I failed to protect him."

Upon hearing Gobber's news Astrid's hands flew to her mouth in shock. Hiccup, the boy that had been called useless for so long, had risked his life to save hers and now…now he had paid the price for it.

Astrid stumbled back a few steps before turning and running out of the Great Hall. She slammed past Snotlout as he tried to greet her and tripped over large pieces of Debris. Even as she fell and scraped her knees and hands, Astrid still got up to continue running.

She eventually found herself down on the docks as far away from the Great Hall as she could get. "That…that idiot!" Astrid swore as she knelt down at the edge of the dock to stare at her wavering reflection in the water.

In all the years she'd grown up with Hiccup never once had she been kind to him. Astrid had treated Hiccup with disdain alongside all the other Vikings of Berk. And yet he had thrown himself into the middle of battle, with no regard to his own safety, just so he could push her out of the way of a dragon attack. She was sure she would have died from being impaled by those nadder spikes if Hiccup hadn't gotten in the way.

Astrid felt sick as she stared into the water. "Why? Why did you do it?" She asked no one in particular. Something wet hit her cheek and she reached up to rub away the damp feeling. Astrid looked at her fingers and then rubbed her eyes. Was she crying?

Angrily Astrid stood up from where she'd been kneeling. She didn't know why Hiccup had saved her and she didn't care. What mattered now was the fact that she owed him her life and her pride and honor as a Viking would never let her forget that. Things were going to change and she would make sure she paid her debt.

* * *

In the end the dragon raid had taken only a few lives and the Vikings had successfully protected the majority of their sheep flock. Hiccup was the only person who'd received a major injury during the attack.

Days passed and the damage that had been done during the dragon raid was cleaned up and the repairs were executed with precision. During that time Hiccup remained bedridden and unconscious. As much as he wanted to be by his son's bedside Stoick was often called away to handle disputes and oversee the village modifications.

Stoick looked to Gobber and Gothi to watch over his son and to help him heal. The real surprise had been when Astrid had offered to help as well. Knowing that the young girl owed his son a life debt Stoick could not deny her request to help take care of Hiccup.

News of what Hiccup had done during the dragon raid spread quickly through the village. The fact that the preteen, often referred to as 'useless', had done something courageous and selfless did not go unnoticed.

By the time Hiccup finally woke up 3 days later the village had become split about what to do. On one hand Hiccup had proven himself as a man by sacrificing himself for another; on the other hand Gothi was sure the boy would be blind after this so what use would he be now?

What would the village do with the boy now? He wouldn't be able to work in the forge anymore, he was too weak and scrawny to do anything useful, and Stoick had refused to let his son die. All the village could do now was wait for Hiccup to wake up so they could find out if he really was blind.

Hiccup awoke in darkness. His body felt weak and heavy as he tried to lift his arms. A groan left him as he tried desperately to push himself up into a sitting position. He heard a chair fall back and feet slamming against the wood floor as someone rushed to his side.

"Dad?" Hiccup's voice cracked and broke and he swallowed several times to try and get some moisture in his mouth. A cup was pressed against his lips and Hiccup reached up weakly to tip it back so he could drink greedily.

"Slowly Hiccup," A soft and feminine voice said as he suddenly coughed.

Hiccup rubbed his throat and turned his head towards the voice. "Who-" He cleared his throat again. "Who's there?"

Frustrated by the fact that he couldn't seem to open his eyes Hiccup reached up to his face. He could feel the cloth of a bandage against his fingers. "Wha-" With shaking hands Hiccup tried to get the bandage off of his face.

"Hiccup don't!" The female voice grew louder as hands grabbed onto his own and pulled them away from his face. "Your wounds are still healing! You need to leave the bandages on until Gothi gets back."

There was a sharpness in the voice that Hiccup recognized. "A-Astrid? What are you doing here?" The shock of having his crush so close to him made Hiccup forget about his bandaged eyes for a moment.

With his eyes covered by the bandage Hiccup couldn't see Astrid's expression, but he could hear her shifting awkwardly by his bed.

"Why did you save me Hiccup?" She asked after a few minutes of tense silence. "You could have died! Why did you save me you idiot?"

Hiccup felt something wet hit his hand and he idly wondered if there was a leak in the roof. "I-" He was at a loss for words for a moment. Why had he saved Astrid? He remembered how panicked he had felt when he had noticed the Nadder sneaking up on Astrid.

"Well?" Astrid demanded loudly. She angrily wiped the tears out of her eyes before they could make it hard for her to see.

"I…The village needs you." Hiccup said slowly. "I'm just a hiccup…a mistake…but you're Astrid!" Even though he'd fought his entire life to try and fit in he knew that in reality he had very little purpose in the village.

"The village needs you." He repeated. His voice was filled with sadness as he slowly lay back down on his bed. The truth of the matter was no one needed Hiccup, but Astrid would probably one day save the whole village.

"Idiot!" Astrid hissed as her fist shook. How she wished she could punch him at that moment. She fought with herself before forcing her hands to her sides.

Hiccup smiled up at Astrid and her heart constricted. "Hey! At least I finally did something right!" He was pretty sure saving Astrid had been the right choice at least. No one would miss him if he was gone after all.

Astrid turned and stormed out of the house. She slammed the door closed behind her as she went off to go find Gothi, Gobber, or Stoick to tell them that Hiccup had finally woken up.

"W-wait! Astrid!" Hiccup said in a panic when he heard the door slam. Suddenly the world was not only dark, but filled with silence. He turned his head this way and that to try and hear anything. Slowly small sounds filtered into his panicked mind.

The small pops and crackles from the fire told him that his bed had been moved down to the main living space of his home. The soft sounds of birds singing outside told him that it was day. One by one Hiccup picked up on the small sounds that he normally ignored.

Slowly Hiccup reached up his hands to his face and he gently fingered the bandage there. "What's the harm?" He mumbled to himself as he slipped his thumb under part of the bandage. Slowly, so as not to pull on any scabs or tear any possible stitches, he lifted a corner of the bandage up.

"What the-" Hiccup knew he had his eyes open as he lifted the bandage higher. He fluttered his eyes, squeezed them shut, and then opened them as wide as they could go despite the pain he felt. Even after making sure his eyes were properly open there was still no light filtering into his vision.

Panicking, Hiccup grabbed the bandage and pulled it completely off of his head. He looked around desperately, turning this way and that to try and see something, anything. He looked in the direction of the fire and still only blackness filled his gaze.

"What's going on?!" Hiccup yelled in fear as he reached out to the edge of his bed. Once he was sure of where the edge was he struggled to push the blanket back so he could swing his legs over the edge.

Using the heat coming from the fire as a guide he staggered out of the bed and towards the far wall where the stairs were. Blindly Hiccup waved his hands out in front of him until they came in contact with the smooth wooden surface.

Hiccup blinked over and over to try and desperately clear his vision. His breathing was ragged and his heart pounded in his chest. Carefully, all the while using the stairs and wall as a guide, Hiccup started walking towards the front of the house where the door was.

The boy faltered for a moment when the stairs became too low for him to hang onto. Determined to try and find some source in the inky darkness that was his vision Hiccup stumbled forward until his hands collided with the front door.

The door was heavy as he pulled at the handle; heavier than Hiccup remembered it being. He struggled with the door for a moment before finally it swung open.

He stood there, in the doorway staring out into the world. He had a mental image in his head as to where the village was and how things should look. Hiccup tilted his head up and the light from the sun warmed his face. He could hear people in the village talking and he could hear birds flying overhead.

And yet his world remained black.


	2. Eternal Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transferring over from fanfiction.net

Eternal Night

Chapter 2:

Hiccup could feel the heat from the sun warming his face and he could hear the distant voices from the villagers. And yet the only thing he could see was darkness. The young teen fell to his knees and his hands went to his face to see if maybe there was a second bandage he had missed.

As his fingers skimmed over his skin he could feel thread at the corner of his eyes where his skin had been pulled together and stitched closed. His fingers went over his eye lashes and then passed over the bridge of his nose where he could feel a definite indent and lack of bone. At the corner of his other eye Hiccup could feel more stitches.

His eyes were open. He could not see. Flashes of what had transpired during the dragon raid came to Hiccup's mind and he started breathing rapidly. The pain he had felt when the nadder spike had gone across his face was impossible to forget and slowly Hiccup came to a hesitant and strained realization.

The price for saving Astrid had been his ability to see.

Tears leaked down Hiccup's face as he knelt there in front of his home. Hiccup pressed his hands against his eyes so that at least the darkness he was seeing would be of his own creation. There was still pain there, across his face, but it was nothing compared to what he felt in his heart and mind.

"Son." Hiccup looked up sharply out of reflex when he heard a voice near him. How had he missed the sound of his father walking up to him?

"I'm sorry." Hiccup said as his hands went from his face to his hair. He looked down at the ground to avoid having his father look into his crippled eyes. "I'm even more worthless now! I'm so sorry dad."

Stoick's hands balled into fists as his son babbled almost incoherently. He could only make out a few things his son was saying and those few things made him angry. "You're not worthless!" Stoick yelled to make Hiccup stop berating himself.

Hiccup's words faltered from shock. How could he not be worthless? He was a failure of a viking and now he couldn't even see. What use would he be to the village?

"Son." Stoick knelt down next to Hiccup and gently reached out with hesitant hands to touch Hiccup's shoulder. He pulled his hand back though when the young boy pulled back sharply. "You did a heroic thing saving Astrid. We'll find your place in life and in the village."

Hiccup knew his father had a hard time talking to him on a regular basis so even these few words spoke volumes to the preteen. He wanted to ask his father if the village was going to kick him out, if the others thought the same way, but his tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of Hiccup's mouth.

Stoick cleared his throat after a few minutes of silence passed between him and his son. "Let's…let's get you back inside." He finally said as he hefted himself back onto his feet.

Before Hiccup could even attempt to stand he felt large hands wrap around him and lift him up. He let out a squeak of surprise as suddenly he was being pressed against his father's chest. "I can still walk." He mumbled weakly even as he felt his father moving.

Sounds invaded Hiccup's now dark world as he was carried back inside, his father's heavy footsteps, the crackling of the fire, the creek of the floorboards, and even the birds outside muffled because of the walls of their home. Hiccup filtered through each sound and made a mental note to himself to try and listen for more sounds now that they would be his only real source of direction in his world now.

The hard surface of his beds planks pressed against his back as his father finally set him down again. Hiccup scooted up some so he could at least lean against the headboard.

"D-Do you need anything?" Stoick asked as he watched his son get comfortable.

Even though he had lost his sight Hiccup hadn't lost his ability to show expression. His surprise was evident on his face at his father's question. "No…no I'm ok." It wasn't a moment later that he felt his stomach revolt. "Maybe something to eat…"

Stoick nodded and backed out of the house to head for the hall. He could make something over the fire, but that would probably take longer than it would if he just went for something that was already made. He hesitated a moment when his back bumped against the doorframe. He didn't want to take his eyes off Hiccup, but if the lad was hungry what could he do?

The way Hiccup had his head hung and his hands in his lap made Stoick wince painfully. He looked so…so depressed and empty. Stoick was afraid that if he turned his back, even for a moment, Hiccup might do something harmful to himself.

"I'll be righ' back." Stoick said loudly so that Hiccup knew he was serious. "Don' do anything…anything rash."

Hiccup nodded numbly. "I'll be here." He mumbled weakly. "Maybe." He added softly when he heard the door finally close behind his father.

Once again Hiccup felt hot tears roll down his cheeks and he reached up to wipe them away. Now that he was alone he took the time to actually feel the scars on his face. From what he could tell beneath his fingers the gash had been deep so he could wager the scar would be big and very obvious.

Hiccup quickly dropped his hands when he heard the light footsteps of someone just outside the door. For a moment Hiccup let himself be amazed at just how much he was hearing.

"Hiccup."

Once again Hiccup's head instantly swung around towards the voice as if he could actually see whomever it was that had just spoken. He winced as again he realized he did not have the ability to see anymore.

"Astrid…" Hiccup mumbled softly as he realized just who it was that had spoken.

Rapid footsteps hit his ears and within a few seconds of the young teenage speaking, the girl was at Hiccup's bedside.

"Do you need anything Hiccup?" Astrid asked after a few seconds of standing there awkwardly by the teen's bed.

Hiccup shook his hanging head. There really was nothing that Astrid could do for him at this point. His father was already getting something for him to eat and he doubted the girl could give him back his eye sight.

The blonde shield maiden sat there awkwardly. She focused her attention on her lap so she wouldn't have to look at Hiccup and feel the overwhelming guilt building up in her chest. Every now and then she would glance up at him for a moment before looking back down at her lap.

Hiccup didn't seem to notice the tension in the air; his mind was focused internally as he thought about what it meant for him to be blind. He wouldn't be able to draw anymore, he wouldn't be able to help Gobber in the forge, and Hiccup wouldn't be able to fight dragons.

The longer Hiccup mentally listed all the things he wouldn't be able to do anymore the heavier his body felt. It got to the point that he couldn't even lift his head or his arms. He felt like he was being held in place by heavy weights.

Astrid was extremely happy when the front door opened again. She turned quickly and was relieved to see Gobber and Gothi standing there.

"Well Stoick was right." Hiccup didn't move when he heard the familiar heavy accent he had grown up listening too. "Ye finally decided to wake up and join us."

Gobber frowned when Hiccup didn't even twitch at his sarcasm. The boy looked like the life had been drained out of him and it worried the blacksmith. Over the years Gobber had acted as a surrogate father to the thin lad and he'd grown to really care for Hiccup. Seeing the usually animated and smiling youngster so empty and lifeless was…disturbing to the man.

Gothi hobbled into the Viking house and over to the bed. She shooed Astrid from her seat so the elderly woman could take it. Using her staff she reached over to tap Hiccup on the shoulder.

That touch seemed to pull Hiccup from his deep thoughts and he finally turned towards the elderly woman. Hiccups movements were stiff and slow and his expression was as blank as a piece of paper.

"Hello Gothi." Hiccup said softly without any real emotion.

Astrid blinked in surprise when the fishbone of a boy named the elderly woman sitting next to his bed. Without his sight how had Hiccup known who was there?

Gothi tapped at Hiccup again and the boy leaned towards her knowing she would need to get a closer look at his injuries.

There was silence in the house as the elderly woman carefully checked over the stitches that were across Hiccup's face. She then moved his shirt so she could get a better look at the injury on his shoulder.

With a nod she patted Hiccup's good shoulder and gave him a gentle push so he would sit back up in his bed again.

Gothi made hand gestures in the air and then used the point of her staff to draw various shapes on the ground. Gobber nodded as Gothi was doing all of this.

"Well good news and bad news." Gobber said as Gothi pulled out a bundle from her bag. "Which would ye like first?"

Hiccup was tapped at again and he leaned over for Gothi to rub what felt like paste onto the stitches on his face and onto his shoulder. "Bad." He groaned softly. The paste felt cold against his skin and helped to ease some of the ache.

"Yer not likely to get yer sight back." Gobber tried to sound light hearted about it, but Hiccup picked up on the sadness. "Good news is yer wounds are healing up nice and neat so you won't have to worry about infection." Wounds like the ones Hiccup had sustained had a high chance of getting infected.

Hiccup couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him. He shocked everyone in the room as his chuckle turned into loud and hysterical laughter. "Loki's luck!" Hiccup finally said as his laughter died down. "I have Loki's luck."

Gobber had to chuckle at that too. "Aye that ye do lad." He felt his heart lifting a little as the boy seemed to be less dead. "That ye do."

Hiccup's heart felt like it was being twisted in his chest as he grinned rather insanely down at his lap. Injuries like he had sustained usually killed a Viking and instead Hiccup had survived. He was alive, but even more worthless to the tribe. He really did have Loki's luck.

It took nearly a week for Hiccup to gain the courage after discovering his lack of sight to even venture out of bed after that. It helped that he had a couple visitors during his recovery. Gobber came every day to make sure he had meals, decent meals, at least twice a day. His father was almost always hovering when he wasn't off in the village doing his chiefly duties. Fishlegs came by quite often to read from the dragon manual for Hiccup; which was a nice change from people asking him if he needed anything almost constantly.

Even though Hiccup understood her reasoning as to why she was around so much the skinny teen just couldn't seem to get used to Astrid spending so much time with him. He wasn't sure if she resented the fact that he had saved her or if she was even sincere in her efforts to help him. The one thing he did know was that Astrid was a prideful girl and she wouldn't deny the fact that she owed him a life debt whether she liked it or not.

"You know Astrid," Hiccup finally said after a week of the girl coming by every day to see how he was doing. "You don't have to do this." He waved his hand through the air to try and indicate what he meant.

Astrid scowled at the blind boy. The one benefit to Hiccup being blind was that he couldn't actually see her facial expressions.

"Of course I do." She informed him as she applied healing salve to the scar on Hiccup's shoulder. "Now shut up and hold still."

Hiccup knew the young shield maiden well enough to be able to tell when she was upset or angry about something without even looking. "Scowling will give you wrinkles." He said softly with a slight smile. Hiccup hissed in pain when Astrid pressed into his shoulder a little too roughly.

Astrid frowned at Hiccup as he just sat there smiling at her. Even if he was smiling Astrid was disturbed to see how empty the expression was.

"Just shut up." She muttered as she finished putting a new bandage on his shoulder. "Gothi says you can go outside you know. Your wounds are healed up enough you'll be fine."

Hiccup's smile faded and his sightless gaze went to his lap. Outside…he'd been thinking about it since Gothi had first told him he could. Did he really want to go outside? He wouldn't be able to see the villagers of Berk, but he knew they would be there…staring at him.

"Maybe…maybe tomorrow." He said softly as he clenched his hands in his lap.

If Hiccup was really honest he was terrified by the idea of going outside. What would the Vikings of Berk think of him when they saw him? Someone would have to lead him around now that he was blind; which meant he was even more useless then before. Hiccup was terrified that he would be treated even worse now.

Astrid pursed her lips. "No. Now." She said firmly as she grabbed hold of Hiccup's hand to drag him out of the chair he had been sitting in.

Hiccup panicked as the Viking girl dragged him through his home and eventually out the door. "Please Astrid! I-I can't do this!" He begged even as he felt his feet hit dirt and stone.

"Of course you can!" Astrid said confidently as she dragged the blind teen down the steps leading away from his home and into the village. "Besides I know Gobber will be happy to see you out and about. He's been-" Astrid didn't get to finish what she was saying as she was interrupted by a rather annoying voice.

"Hey! It's Hiccup the Useless!" Hiccup groaned as he recognized that voice. His cousin's voice was the hardest to forget.

Astrid frowned at Snotlout who was leaning against a random building along with the twins. "Not now Snotlout." She warned menacingly. She was on a mission here and she honestly didn't want to deal with the idiot teen wannabe.

"Oh come on babe," Snotlout said as he pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against. "I can't say hi to my runty cousin?"

The crunching of the grass and pebbles warned Hiccup that Snotlout was walking towards him. He stepped back and away from his cousin when the teen got closer.

Astrid knew what Snotlout was like since she'd been on his side for many years in tormenting Hiccup.

"Not like that you can't." Astrid warned as she put herself between Snotlout and Hiccup. Most of the villagers had agreed to give Hiccup space, since he had proven himself by saving Astrid, but that didn't make the blind teen any less of a target. Snotlout was the kind of person to take advantage of any weakness no matter how noble behind the weakness.

Snotlout sneered and shrugged. "Whatever." He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced over Astrid's shoulder at Hiccup, who had his face turned away from the conversation.

"So cousin," Snotlout slurred that last word a little too much for Hiccup's liking. "What's it like knowing you're going to be an even bigger burden on the village?"

Hiccup didn't get a chance to answer, even if he wanted too. Astrid had lunged forward and had landed a rather nasty punch right against Snotlout's big nose. Hiccup scuttled backwards a little when he heard Snotlout hit the ground and Hiccup winced as his cousin yelled in pain.

"Come on Hiccup," Astrid proceeded to grab Hiccup's hand again to draw him away. "There's too much trash here stinking the place up."

Hiccup wished Astrid would slow down a little in her pulling so he could take in the sounds and try to connect those sounds to his mental image of the village, but he was too intimidated by Astrid's rage to say anything.

With how fast Astrid was pulling Hiccup along the young teen felt lost. He'd grown up in this village, he knew every dark corner and hiding place, but now it was like an alien world to him. He could make out all sorts of sounds, but nothing connected in his mind. What was worse were the whispers he was picking up.

From what Hiccup could tell the two of them must have been close to one of the town squares with how many voices he was hearing. He heard his name here and there, but no matter how much he strained his ears he couldn't pick up what was being said. It didn't help that Astrid was still dragging him behind her at a fast pace.

"Astrid! Slow down!" Hiccup begged as he stumbled a little. "You dragged me out without my shoes you know." A rock jabbed into his foot making Hiccup wince. He bit his tongue to keep from making any sounds of pain.

Thankfully Astrid did slow down once she'd realized what she'd done. "Oh…Oh I'm sorry." She mumbled as she glanced back at the blind teen. Her eyes drifted to the ground and sure enough she spotted Hiccup's bare feet digging into the dirt they were walking on. They looked roughed up and cut from the rocks they'd been walking on.

'I'm messing this up.' Astrid thought to herself. She'd only been trying to get Hiccup out of that house so he wouldn't seem so gloomy.

Hiccup was about to say something when a familiar sound reached his ears. He turned his head towards the sound and smiled. Taking the lead, as best he could, Hiccup pulled at Astrid's hand and began walking carefully in the direction of the forge.

He stumbled here and there, but it felt good to be able to walk without as much help. Astrid still kept her hand in his and she stopped Hiccup from running into barrels, but in the end Hiccup was able to reach the forge and lean against the counter.

"Need any help?" Hiccup called in through the window.

Hiccup took a deep breath through his nose pulling in all the scents of the forge. The tang of hot metal was mixed with Gobber's musky scent along with the thick, sharp, smoky smell of the fire. He'd never noticed just how much he enjoyed the smell of the forge before.

Gobber dropped the bludgeon he was working on and cursed when it landed on his good foot. He hobbled back and cursed again when his back hit up against his wall of interchangeable tools.

The sound of various tools falling and crashing from within the forge made Hiccup chuckle. He could tell that since his…accident…Gobber hadn't really tidied up; It sounded like Gobber was tripping over every little thing.

Finally, after several long minutes of cursing and trying not to fall on his behind, Gobber was able to get to the window.

"It's good te see ye lad." Gobber said as he rubbed a spot on his head where several of his tools had fallen. "I was worried ye would stay shut up fer the rest of yer life." He reached out to ruffle Hiccup's hair affectionately.

Hiccup was definitely in better spirits after the ruckus Gobber had caused. "Astrid dragged me out." He responded as he tried to comb his hair back into place with his fingers.

"Thank ye lass." Gobber's voice was filled with gratefulness as he smiled at the blond girl. She simply nodded and leaned against the wall of the forge.

"So," Gobber detached the hammer appendage and replaced it with his wooden hand. "What can I do for ye?"

Hiccup thought about the question for a minute before shrugging. "Got anything I might be able to help with?" he asked hopefully. Hiccup knew what the answer would be, but he had been hoping he could do something.

Gobber rubbed his chin in thought. He was of the belief that a person healed faster when they kept busy. He wished he could have Hiccup back in the forge with him, but he had no idea what Hiccup could do for him without his sight now.

"Tell ye what Hiccup," Gobber said slowly. "If ye don't mind relearning things…I think maybe ye could get back into the forge again."

Most Vikings could sharpen their weapons with their eyes closed once they had enough practice so perhaps Hiccup could relearn that skill.

"Fer now though you need to rest up." Gobber poked at Hiccup's injured shoulder and frowned at the pained wince that the teen gave away. "Ye had problems lifting a sword before. With that injury it'll be harder now."

Hiccup shrugged and sighed. "I guess."

Gobber chuckled. "I'm talking about the wound in yer shoulder." He reached out and gently tapped said wound again making Hiccup cringe. Still the preteen smirked at the fact that Gobber hadn't meant his eyes.

"HICCUP!" A mighty yell from behind him made Hiccup spin around and search with his blind eyes for the source. The reaction was so normal for Hiccup that he didn't even realize his eyes were searching for sight.

"Hiccup what are you doing out here?" Stoick demanded as he stormed up to his son. "You should be inside where it's-" the burly man paused as he tried to think of a better way to word what he wanted to say.

"Safe?" Hiccup offered up. "Where it's less likely people will see me?" He felt a sneer on his lips and it took all his will power to control his expression.

Stoick sighed and turned to Astrid. "Get him home." The chief ordered the young blond before turning and storming away.

"Don' mind him Hiccup." Gobber said from somewhere behind Hiccup. "He's just worried about ye; even more so now."

Thoughts went through Hiccup's mind as he turned back to Gobber. He could feel Astrid's hand grabbing his once more to lead him away. "Do me a favor Gobber?" he asked as he stared blankly at his longtime friend.

"Anything for ye lad."

"Come up with some things you think I might be able to do." Hiccup was now feeling desperate to prove himself. This small taste of a normal life had revitalized him somewhat and he wanted more. "Anything! Even if it's just washing things."

Gobber assured Hiccup that he'd think up some chores for the lad to do before Astrid was finally able to pull Hiccup away.

The two were silent as they carefully navigated their way back to Hiccup's home. "You know Hiccup," Astrid started to say once they were back inside. "You don't need to push yourself to do things." She helped him over to the table where he could take a seat. "The village understands. Just relax and…and…"

Hiccup glared at the table. His hands were pressed flat against the surface. "And what Astrid?" He demanded. "You told me I needed to go outside. Well I did! And guess what?" He didn't bother looking up at her. "It made me realize I want to be normal again. I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself and hiding in here." Hiccup lifted a hand to wave it through the air. "But how the hell can I ever be normal again?"

"I was useless before this happened." His hand came down to rub at the corner of one eye. "You tell me what I can do now?" Hiccup slammed his fist on the table. All the emotions he'd been holding in for the past week started spilling out. "What can a blind mistake like me do to help the village?" The pent up rage he'd felt was over powering him. "I should have DIED!" At least then he wouldn't have ended up an even worse burden.

Astrid fell silent. Hiccup was shaking and there were tears in his ruined eyes as he stared at the table under his fists. She realized there was nothing she could say or do that would make things better for Hiccup.

"You're alive." Astrid finally told the blind teen. "The gods must have meant for you to live." She reached out a hesitant hand to touch Hiccup's shoulder only for him to jerk away from her touch.

Hiccup let his bangs fall into his eyes. "Leave." He said coldly as he stood up from the table. "I'm tired." With that said he stumbled and felt his way to the staircase that led up to his room. He was slowly walking up the steps when he heard the front door open and then close.

"The gods don't care about me." Hiccup mumbled as he lifted one foot after the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transferring over from fanfiction.net

Eternal Night

Chapter 3

It took time, but eventually Hiccup was able to pretend to come to terms with what had happened. When he was around others he would smile, joke, and be closer to his old self. He was more subdued then he used to be, but the people close to him were just glad to see him trying.

The truth was Hiccup was slowly sinking deeper and deeper into a dark abyss that had found a place within his mind. Nagging thoughts of self-loathing dug into his daily routine. Even as Hiccup smiled and laughed he was berating himself mentally for being so worthless.

The small victories that Astrid celebrated did nothing to make Hiccup feel better. She was so excited the day Hiccup was able to navigate his way from his home to the great hall by himself. Astrid complimented him the day he was able to sharpen his dagger without cutting his hands. The blond girl was so encouraging when Hiccup started to learn how to weave a fishing net by himself.

The longer things went on the more Hiccup came to realize he was sick and tired of Astrid. Her intentions were good, he would always understand that, but it was like she was trying way too hard.

Truth be told Astrid was living in a rose tinted world. The day Hiccup had made his way to the great hall he'd gotten lost twice, scraped his knees, knocked over several barrels of fish, and had ruined someone's laundry. After cutting up his hands several times trying to learn how to sharpen his little dagger by feel he'd given up and gone to Gobber for help; Hiccup just hadn't had the heart or patience to tell Astrid the truth. The fishing net Hiccup had been trying to learn how to make had ended up so knotted that the rope had been ruined.

Everything that Hiccup tried to do, to try and regain some semblance of normalcy, had ended in disaster. His father, Gobber, and Astrid worked hard to keep the criticism of the village from reaching him, but in the months following his loss of sight Hiccup's hearing had become superb.

If he'd just been able to draw, or write, Hiccup would have been able to feel at least a little bit of happiness. It was impossible for Hiccup to do either though without his eyesight. He'd tried, many times in fact, but it was pointless for him. If he couldn't see what he was doing, what he had done, then why even try to draw or write?

"Astrid." Hiccup called out from where he was lying on the grass. The one thing he found enjoyment in these days was laying out under the sun when the weather cooperated.

It wasn't a few seconds later before the blond teen was at his side and going down to her knees beside him.

Hiccup heard her set her ax behind her and he slowly sat up. "You're going to ruin the blade of your ax if you keep throwing it at the trees." He said simply as he pulled up a knee to hug against his chest. "You need to practice on a softer wood."

For the past couple hours Astrid had been throwing her ax at several trees while Hiccup had been relaxing.

"There aren't any soft wood trees around here." Astrid said lightly as she made herself more comfortable on the grass. "And I do practice on stray dummies, but I need hard targets so I can build up my muscle."

Hiccup shook his head and held out his hand. "Let me see your ax."

Although he'd been horrible at sharpening blades Hiccup had discovered a unique ability during those many weeks of cutting up his hands. Just with his sense of touch Hiccup could tell if weapon's edge was weakening and about to break.

Once Astrid's ax was in his hands Hiccup pressed his fingers lightly against the flat surface of the blade. He traced his fingers carefully and slowly along the blade until he could feel the edge. Once at the edge Hiccup very carefully slid his fingers along the edge until he'd navigated the entire edge.

"Take it to Gobber." He instructed Astrid as he handed the ax back to her. "The blade is chipped in several places and there's an internal crack."

Astrid looked at her ax critically. It amazed her how Hiccup could just tell these things. His ability to understand a weapon was the one thing that the villagers seemed to approve of. Hiccup would go to the forge once a day to tell Gobber what was wrong with each weapon so the blacksmith could do repairs.

"I'll be back in a bit then." Astrid told Hiccup as she stood up.

Hiccup shook his head. "Don't. Gobber says you've been skipping dragon training to watch me." Hiccup had gotten so good at pretending to be alright that he didn't even have to try to keep his expression neutral. It was hard for Astrid to figure out what he was feeling as he spoke these days. "Go catch up with your lessons."

Over the past year Astrid had learned what the few expressions Hiccup had meant. At the moment he had given her a very clear dismissal. If she did come back she knew he'd argue with her and he'd end up storming up to his room and would refuse to come out to talk to her. It was easier to just do what he said.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow then." Astrid said with a sigh.

Hiccup nodded and waited until he couldn't hear Astrid any longer before he stood up as well.

For several long minutes Hiccup stood silently, his head tilted downwards with his hair in his face as the wind gently caressed him. His hair had gotten longer since that fateful night and Hiccup just hadn't had the heart to get it cut. What was the point of cutting his bangs when they weren't actually blocking his sight?

What was the point of anything anymore? Other than the one skill he had at being able to find the flaw and weakness in a weapon he was essentially useless. Hiccup spent most of his days sitting somewhere out of the way just so the rest of the village wouldn't complain about him messing things up.

"Damn it all." Hiccup cursed softly as he turned so that his back was getting the sunlight. His fingers skimmed over his shirt sleeve and his ears strained to hear every sound around him.

It just wasn't fair! Sure Hiccup had messed up a lot growing up, but had all those minor mistakes warranted him being punished like this? "You couldn't have taken a leg or something?" Hiccup lifted his head up to point his voice up at the sky. "You just had to take my eye sight!"

A rustle in the bushes several yards away caught Hiccup's attention and he slowly crouched down to grab hold of his walking stick. He had been terrible at fighting before losing his eye sight, but now he was as defenseless as a newborn.

The sound behind him died down, but Hiccup's increased hearing was picking up very soft footfalls that were circling around him just out of the reach of his staff.

Hiccup knew what it was that was stalking him; it was a dragon. It couldn't have been too large with how softly it was moving and the space of time between each step meant it was larger than a terrible terror. A Nadder made a distinctive chirping sound even when it was trying to move slowly so it wasn't one of those. Hiccup didn't smell any burnt sulfur which usually indicated a Monstrous Nightmare. A gronkle wouldn't bother with moving as stealthily as this dragon was.

Which meant Hiccup had no idea what it was that was slowly circling him.

The young teen had three immediate options and none of them were very good. Hiccup could attempt to fend off the dragon and get eaten in the process; he could make a run for it and possibly break his neck and then get eaten; or he could play dead and get eaten.

A snapping twig made his decision for him and Hiccup bolted in the opposite direction of the dragon. After Hiccup had started coming to this particular spot more often Astrid and his father had taken the time to clear the majority of the path of large trees and rocks. Still that didn't stop Hiccup from tripping over things and getting bruised up as he stumbled into large objects.

There was a gust of air against Hiccup's side and he was suddenly slammed into a very solid and strangely textured surface. His intelligent mind worked out immediately what he had run into and Hiccup made a 90 degree turn to run off the path that had been cleared for him.

Hiccup tried to use his staff to find the trees and rocks in the forest, but at one point he lost the sturdy piece of wood and Hiccup had to rely on his outstretched hands.

The chase went on for what felt like hours to Hiccup. Every time he thought he had gained even a little distance, as well as a great deal more bruises and cuts, the dragon would rush past him and block his path. With how cool it had gotten Hiccup figured it was either nightfall or he was so deep in the forest that the trees were blocking out all light.

"Just get it over with!" He yelled as he turned again to try and evade the gust of air that had rushed past him. Hiccup's feet tangled with a tree root and the young teen felt himself fall.

He hit the ground and rolled downhill until suddenly Hiccup was in open air. His stomach dropped and he flailed in desperation to grab onto something as gravity took control after a moments delay. He could hear rocks falling and hitting each other only to fall into still water below.

The sound of the water was directly below him so Hiccup covered his head as he fell praying that the water was deep enough that he wouldn't be battered and broken on rocks.

There was a rushing sound and icy water surrounded his body forcing the air he had swallowed during the fall out. Hiccup thrashed his arms and legs through the water as he fought to find the way back up. The less rational part of his brain figured drowning would probably be less painful then getting eaten by a dragon.

Hiccup's lungs burned and he slapped a hand over his mouth and nose to keep from trying to suck in air. The need for air was getting to overwhelming though and his stomach clenched tightly.

Just as he was about to give in and just breathe in the water Hiccup felt something grab the back of his shirt and vest. Whatever it was wrenched him upwards through the water and in seconds his head burst forth from the water and Hiccup gulped down grateful mouthfuls of fresh air.

The thing that had grabbed him dragged him to the bank of the little lake and Hiccup flipped over so that he was on his hands and knees.

"Thanks." He was finally able to get out once he was breathing normally again. "I was being chased by a dragon! Got lost! Fell off a cliff or something."

Hiccup's relieved babbling began to slow down when no responses came. When he stopped talking Hiccup was able to hear the deep breathing of a creature with a much larger lung capacity then a human.

"This is just great." Hiccup cringed as he waited for the dragon to lunge at him and tear him to pieces. "Probably wanted me alive when you ripped me limb from limb."

Hiccup sat back on his behind and hung his head as he waited. At least he wouldn't see his death coming. His endless darkness was a blessing this one time.

But the end never came. Instead he felt a warm breath puffing into his face and pushing his bangs this way and that. Hiccup didn't move. The dragon was just playing with him and Hiccup had given up; he wouldn't give this dragon the luxury of a good chase any longer. At least his suffering would finally be over and the village would have one less thing to complain about.

"Dragon?" Hiccup slowly let out the one word as if to get some sort of response from the creature that was currently breathing on him. He stared blankly at where the warm air was coming from. There was movement too quick for Hiccup's ears to follow and then he felt something pushing against his back.

Hiccup twisted at his hips to try and get at the dragon that had just pushed at his back only for his hands to meet empty air.

There was movement again and this time Hiccup felt a solid object pushing at his side. Hiccup tried to turn to grab onto the thing pushing at him, but it was gone faster than he could twist back around.

The dragon was testing his responses. Hiccup couldn't see it, but the dragon was watching him intensely. Its acidic green eyes followed Hiccup's slowed responses and took in how the human teen wasn't using his eyes to find what he was looking for; the young teen was using his hands.

After testing a couple more times to see if his theory was correct, mostly by nudging at the boy at various spots, the dragon backed away a couple yards to get a better overall look of the boy.

Earlier the dragon had been out hunting and exploring when he had come upon a lone human in a clearing that had been obviously altered. The human had been alone although the scents of another had only just started fading.

The dragon had been tempted at the time to take down the human, but other than the branch it had picked up the boy hadn't had any other weapon. Dragons didn't normally attack unless there was a reason too. At the time there hadn't been a reason to take down this frail looking human.

And now the dragon knew for sure that this human wasn't a danger. He couldn't see.

"D-Dragon?" Hiccup did not like how quiet the area had gotten once the dragon had backed away. The creature was sitting so still that he couldn't even guess as to where the beast had gone.

If he'd still had his walking stick Hiccup would have gotten up to try and find his way home, but he didn't even have that. He'd fallen off a cliff. If there had been sand or the sound of the ocean Hiccup could have followed the shoreline until he'd met up with a fisherman, but with how the sounds were echoing softly around him Hiccup concluded he was surrounded by high cliff walls.

"Just kill me already!" Hiccup yelled out as he slammed a fist into the ground beneath him. "Kill me."

This was his chance to end his suffering! If he died here then the village wouldn't have to put up with his accident prone nature. Hiccup wouldn't have to struggle needlessly through life anymore. He wouldn't have to remember what it was like to write or draw, what it was like to see the stars twinkling in the sky above him. Hiccup wouldn't have to pretend to be alright when around anyone. He could just be at peace.

The warm breath against Hiccup's face didn't even phase him when before it would have made him fall back in terror. He felt empty and the only thing that seemed to bring him relief was the sweet embrace of death.

' _He's given up.'_ The dragon thought as he came slowly closer to the human that was hunched over on the ground. The dragon was curious as to why the human seemed so dejected, but no answer seemed forthcoming.

The dragon was old enough and had learned enough during its life that it could understand a fair portion of viking language. He knew what the vikings would shout during a battle or when they were about to kill a dragon.

So the dragon understood what it was the little human was asking of him.

' _I won't kill you little one.'_ The dragon cooed at Hiccup and when the dragon was close enough it pressed its forehead against Hiccup's.

Hiccup was startled out of his frozen state and finally tumbled back and away from the creature. Instead of teeth and claws Hiccup had felt warm scales pressed against him. What game was this dragon playing at.

Blindly Hiccup raised a hand to try and feel where the dragon was. It took a moment but soon enough Hiccup felt scales pressed gently against the palm of his hand.

Understanding passed between the two and Hiccup's pounding heart returned to normal. Boy and Dragon remained still, one staring while the others mind raced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	4. A Light in the Dark

A Light in the Dark

Chapter 4

Somehow Hiccup was eventually able to convince the dragon to take him back to the village. He'd been right in thinking that where he'd fallen was surrounded by cliffs. Awkwardly the dragon had gotten Hiccup onto his back and had then proceeded to fly up and out.

The flight had been short and very gut wrenching; Hiccup had been very glad for his lack of sight for that first flight.

The dragon had been planning on flying most of the way back to the village, but the boy on his back had begged for him to land once they were away from the glade surrounded by cliffs.

Once Hiccup was close enough to the village to hear people again he stopped. It was one thing to walk into the village without his staff, but to have a dragon following him? Hiccup was pretty sure both he and the dragon would be killed.

"You should probably go back now." Hiccup told the dragon wearily. "If they see you they'll kill you, even if you don't mean any harm." During the walk Hiccup had had his hand resting on the dragon's shoulder so that the dragon could lead him around trees and other obstacles.

Hiccup had taken the time to really analyze the feel of the scales beneath his hand. They were smooth and soft, almost like skin but for their alien texture. Hiccup could feel a strong warmth beneath his fingers as well which intrigued him.

The dragon crooned at him and nudged at Hiccup's side gently to ask if he would be alright.

Even in the short amount of time Hiccup and the dragon had been around each other the two of them were already better at understanding each other then Hiccup was with other humans.

"I'll be fine," Hiccup said with a smile and he rubbed at the dragon's shoulder. "I'll just tell them that I got lost and took my time finding my way home." Which was true for the most part.

The dragon crooned once more which made Hiccup smile and move his hand higher so he could pet the top of the dragon's head. He carefully rubbed and touched the strange appendages at the top of the dragon's head. Hiccup let his hand roam across the dragon's forehead and then down his snout so he could touch at the dragon's lips.

It felt strange letting the human touch him like this, but the dragon wasn't pulling away. How else would the human know what he looked like?

When the boy's hand passed over the dragon's lips the dragon opened up his maw and gummed at the human's fingers.

"Toothless huh?" Hiccup smiled at that and giggled a little at the feeling of the wet and slimy tongue of the dragon pass over his hand. "Maybe that's what I'll call you."

The dragon, now named Toothless, gurgled irritably at Hiccup, but how was he supposed to tell this little human what his real name was? Reluctantly the dragon accepted this new name; one that only this human would use.

Hiccup would have been more then happy to continue petting Toothless, but he could hear the villagers calling out his name as they searched for him. "You better get going Toothless. I'll try to visit after things calm down."

Toothless crooned at Hiccup before nudging him towards the human settlement. With one more croon goodbye he turned and rushed off into the forest and away from any humans.

The young teen waited until he could no longer hear Toothless before sighing and began his stumbling journey into the village.

With his reappearance it wasn't long before the villagers noticed him and sent a runner to get Stoick.

"Where have you been?" Stoick roared as he returned to his and Hiccup's home. Gobber had gotten Hiccup home and had stayed with Gothi to make sure Hiccup wasn't injured. "You could have been killed! What if a dragon had gotten you?"

Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. He was about to say something only to hiss when Gothi applied some salve to a scrape on his knee. "I'm fine dad. Just got lost."

Stoick was red in the face as he tried to hold in his temper. The look Gobber was giving him was enough to make the big man reign in his rage a little. "Why did you leave the path we made for you?" He demanded as he took the mug of ale that Gobber handed him. "We found your walking stick in the forest!"

It took all of Hiccup's control not to sigh again. "I got spooked ok? Ran off the path. I'm sorry." As soon as Gothi was done patching up his simple injuries Hiccup was up and walking towards the stairs to go up to his room.

As much as Stoick wanted to go after his son the hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"He's fine Stoick. A few bumps and bruises, but he's not even shaken up." Gobber said with a toothy smile. "You've got a strong boy there. While you were out searching he just waltzed right into the village like nothing was wrong."

Stoick grumbled and tipped back his mug. "He shouldn't have wandered out anyway! What if a dragon had found him? We probably would have never found him."

Despite having his door shut and his head covered by the blanket on his bed Hiccup could still hear everything that his father was saying.

' _If only he knew._ ' Hiccup thought to himself with a small smile.

With a soft groan Hiccup rolled over and turned to face his open window. He could feel the last bit of heat from the setting sun. If he focused he could almost picture what the sunset would look like.

' _I wonder what my dad would think if he knew I've ridden on a dragon?'_ Small giggles escaped Hiccup and he shook his head in wonderment. If his father ever found out the man would probably have a heart attack from his rage.

It took a couple days for Stoick to stop being so protective of Hiccup before the teen could get away into the forest. He made sure to tell Gobber at least that he wanted to be alone and that he'd be back later.

Gobber understood how much Hiccup wanted to be alone and had waved Hiccup off with a simple warning not to go too deep into the forest. The problem that Hiccup ran into was Astrid.

"I want to be alone Astrid." Hiccup said calmly as he leaned against a tree not too far into the forest. "There aren't any dragons this close to the village. I'll be fine."

Astrid shifted her axe against her shoulder. "Your father asked that I stay with you Hiccup. When you went missing a couple days ago everyone was worried!"

That statement made Hiccup roll his eyes. "The only people that were worried were you, my dad, and Gobber. The rest of the village just searched because my dad ordered them too." Hiccup wasn't stupid, he knew how the majority of Berk felt about him.

Still Astrid persisted in trying to get Hiccup to let her come with him.

"No Astrid!" Hiccup felt himself growing angry the longer the teen girl fought with him. He seethed and for once he let the anger he felt for her seep out. Since he'd lost his sight he'd slowly started resenting Astrid. Her intentions were good, but she just wouldn't give Hiccup the space he needed. He wanted to be able to breath, to find himself again, but it was nearly impossible with Astrid hovering over him.

"Go to dragon training!" Hiccup ordered coldly. His hands became fists at his side and shook slightly from how hard he was squeezing them. "I want to be alone." Hiccup lifted his head and focused his eyes forward in the direction that Astrid was.

The young teen girl's breath caught in her throat as she met Hiccup's empty gaze. His eyes which had once been such a vibrant green had dulled to a milky gray and the whites of his eyes were red tinged. Rarely did anyone meet his eyes now if only because of the drastic physical appearance they had now.

"Alright Hiccup." Astrid said softly and sadly. "I'll go to dragon training...but...but please don't wander far." She looked away from Hiccup's scar, the scar that would always remind her what he had given up to save her, and left.

Hiccup waited until he was sure Astrid was gone. He listened to the sounds of the forest around him for a few minutes before sighing. He couldn't hear any vikings nearby and they weren't stealthy enough to hide from his increased hearing.

"You can come out now." Hiccup called lightly. His voice changed from the cold detached quality to one filled with curiosity and happiness.

There was a thump next to him and Hiccup chuckled softly. "I thought that was you in the trees." His hand reached out and almost immediately there was a dragon head pressed against it.

They'd just met and already there was a bond between the boy and the dragon. "But you shouldn't get this close to the village Toothless. The others would kill you." Hiccup warned as he lightly rubbed at the forehead his hand was pressed against. His hand explored the ear appendages before going down the dragon's neck.

Toothless crooned at Hiccup before nudging at the boy. It took some maneuvering and creative pushing on Toothless's part, but eventually he was able to get Hiccup up onto his back.

"Just don't take off so suddenly!" Hiccup warned Toothless, but he didn't have to worry about it. The dragon beneath him just started walking at a happy trot through the forest.

At first Hiccup clung to Toothless with both his legs and arms. It was hard to tell which direction they were going since they were walking under the trees. After a few minutes of no surprise takeoffs or sudden bursts of running Hiccup started to relax. He sat up slowly and used his hands to brace himself.

A small smile found its way onto Hiccup's face as he listened to the forest around them and felt the light breeze brushed past him.

"What's up?" Hiccup asked when Toothless stopped. The dragon crooned at him and lowered his front end to make the boy fall forward against his neck. When Hiccup got the hint and wrapped his arms around Toothless's neck again the dragon jumped.

The rush of air and the slight echo against the rock walls around them told Hiccup they'd made it to the little cove.

For the first couple hours Hiccup just enjoyed resting against Toothless. At one point the dragon caught a couple fish and gave one of the slimy creatures to Hiccup for lunch. With the sounds Toothless made Hiccup was sure that the dragon wanted him to eat the fish raw.

It took some work, and a lot of hand motions, but Toothless eventually got the idea that Hiccup wanted him to start a fire. Once the fire was going Hiccup found himself a stick, with a lot of fumbling and cursing.

From there cooking the fish was easy. It only ended up a little burnt.

"You know what the worst thing about being blind is?" Hiccup asked as he bit into the crispy fish. "It's not the whispers or the looks I know I'm getting, I grew up with that, it's not being able to draw." He chewed on his fish slowly and silently for a minute.

Toothless cooed at Hiccup and gently nudged at him comfortingly.

"I'll never be able to work on my inventions again...or really help Gobber in the forge." His words were slow and quiet as he spoke. Hiccup felt himself open up in a way that he hadn't allowed himself too since he'd found out his eyesight had been lost to him.

Stinging tears leaked from his eyes and Hiccup used a hand to wipe them away in irritation. "I'll never see a sunset again. I'll never be considered a viking." The teens sobs grew stronger as his heart finally released all the pent up sorrow he'd been holding in.

"I'll never even know what you look like!" He had no idea what color his dragon companion was or if he had any markings. Toothless' eye color was lost to Hiccup and as much as the teens fingers twitched for charcoal and paper he would never be able to draw the dragon.

Toothless was at a loss as to what he could do. He barely knew this human and he only knew so much about humans in general. Up until yesterday Toothless had always believed humans to be violent, dragon hating, and bloodthirsty. Having met Hiccup the dragon's opinion had changed.

The best thing Toothless was able to do was press his head against Hiccup's side and croon gently.

Sobs wracked Hiccup's thin frame and he dropped his fish in favor of wrapping his arms around Toothless' neck for support. After such a long time of pretending to be strong something in Hiccup finally felt a little better.

Boy and dragon silently sat in the cove together for some time before Hiccup finally calmed. Even after his sobs stopped the teen kept his arms around Toothless' neck. There was so much warmth and comfort coming from the dragon Hiccup was loathe to let go.

Finally Hiccup sniffled and let go. "Thanks bud." He rubbed his eyes and smiled a little at the dragon. "I'm sorry I got your scales wet." The teen chuckled a little and rubbed the cuff of his sleeve over Toothless' neck to get the wet smear off.

The dark dragon crooned once more before flicking his tongue out to brush it against the teens damp cheek.

The slobbery tongue made Hiccup chuckle and he attempted to wipe it off with his sleeve. "Gross! It's not coming off!" He attempted to wipe it off again only for the dragon to knock him over with a nudge of his great snout. Hiccup laughed loudly as the tongue swiped out again to get his other cheek soaking.

Toothless continued his barrage if licks seeing as how it was actually lifting the boy's mood. The two rolled around and it was during their playing that Hiccup found a sweet spot just under Toothless' jaw that made the dragon fall to the ground in a drooling and twitching heap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	5. A Proper Heir

A Proper Heir

Chapter 5

Hiccup had no idea what he was currently doing.

It'd been a few days since his last visit with Toothless and the teen had been planning on visiting after he'd gotten away from his father for the day, but his plans had been delayed thanks to Astrid. Again.

Now he found himself with Gobber over the arena listening to the other teens training with the dragons down below.

"Don't just stand there Fishlegs, get in there!" Gobber yelled as said teen struggled to run around one of the walls in the maze to get as far away from the deadly nadder as he could.

Hiccup huffed and closed his eyes. He'd stretched out on the ground only a few minutes after the training had started and was currently pillowing his head with his arms.

"Don't know why I'm here." Hiccup mumbled for the millionth time.

Gobber sighed softly. Truth be told he'd sent Astrid to get Hiccup to bring him to dragon training. Hiccup's father Stoick needed the boy out of the way and out of trouble for a couple hours so that the adults could have a meeting. Gobber and a few others were the only ones not attending.

"Yer here because even ye need to know a bit about dragons." Gobber reached down to snare Hiccup's shirt with his hook. He hefted Hiccup into a standing position. "Ye might not be fighting them, but ye still need to know how to not die."

With a grumble Hiccup pulled free from Gobber. He lightly used a hand to find the chain dome that surrounded the arena and then leaned against it.

"I know how to not die." Hiccup said with a deep sigh. "Whenever there's a raid hide away in the Great Hall." At least that's what his father had told him and Hiccup had done well to do as his father had ordered him.

Gobber's eyes grew sad as he looked at the teen that had once been his apprentice. The boy was leaning his back against the chains with his arms crossed over his chest. Even though his eyes were cloudy and unseeing they still held so much emotion. At the moment Hiccup looked so uncaring and distant.

"Yer father just wants to keep ye safe." Gobber gently set his hook on Hiccup's shoulder.

Hiccup said nothing, but he didn't pull away from Gobber either.

The silent gesture was broken when a scream from the arena called Gobber's attention. "Snotlout! Stop showing off and focus!"

With Gobber distracted by the group of teens down fighting the dragon Hiccup made his escape.

After a year of being blind Hiccup had learned how to handle his walking stick. He had also learned the layout of the village by feel. It took a little work though to get away from the arena and back to the main part of the village.

The sounds of the village were dim and Hiccup could tell that most of the villagers weren't around. It was a relief not to hear all the whispers as he made his way slowly towards the Great Hall.

He might as well get some food before he tried to sneak away to go and visit Toothless. As much as the dragon tried to provide lunch during their visits Hiccup was a little tired of mostly burnt fish. Even a piece of bread would be nice.

It was with a sigh of relief that Hiccup pressed a hand against the door to the Great Hall. He'd made it safely to the Great Hall without bumping into random objects or tripping over something for once.

"-last push; before the frost sets in." Hiccup could hear his father speaking as he slowly pushed the door open. He paused when he heard other adults murmuring. This was a meeting so Hiccup shouldn't be around. Hiccup's curiosity got the best of him though so he waited with the door barely open.

"Those ships never come back Stoick!"

There was a slam on a hard wooden surface and hiccup winced. He could tell that his father had embedded a dagger into the table. "The raids have gotten worse. We're lucky the last month that the night fury hasn't be one of the attacking dragons." There was a pause before Stoick continued. "Who will come with me?"

More whispers floated in the air and it was difficult for Hiccup to hear exactly what the adults were saying.

"Alright," Stoick's voice had a finality to it as he spoke up to stop the whispers. "Anyone who stays behind will look after Hiccup."

There was a rush of movement and Hiccup winced as he heard a great deal of voices speak up that they would go with Stoick the Vast.

Hiccup felt like storming in and arguing with the adults. Sure ever since he'd lost his eyes he'd become clumsier, but he hadn't actually done serious damage in a long time. In the last few months he'd done a great job of staying out of the way even!

"Speaking of Hiccup," the teens inner thoughts stopped as he heard his uncle Spitelout speak.

The adults quieted down as Stoick's second in command spoke. There was an anticipation in the air as if they knew what Spitelout was going to say.

"It's time to decide Stoick. We all understand he is your son and that you care about him., but-" There was a deathly silence in the room as the people waited for Spitelout to finish. Hiccup himself was holding his breath; what in the world could they be talking about that could involve him?

Stoick growled at Spitelout, but he waited to hear the rest.

"-but it's time to name a new heir. A blind boy can never be chief."

Hiccup's heart stopped. He knew this would happen eventually and he understood the reasoning behind the decision. Someone who wasn't whole couldn't lead a tribe of vikings.

Usually when someone became as useless as he was they were banished from the tribe and sent out to sea in a little boat with a weeks worth of provisions. Hiccup figured the only reason they hadn't done that to him was because he'd saved Astrid.

"-will be silent Spitelout." Hiccup was pulled from his thoughts once more as he heard his father's voice. Stoick was quieter then normal, but the fury that raged just beneath the surface of those words could be felt by everyone. "My decision will be made after this raid."

"No Stoick." Hiccup was surprised at how forward Spitelout was being. Even as second in command Spitelout couldn't just interrupt the chief. "If you want this raid then you need to name a new heir. The entire tribe feels this way."

There were mumbles of affirmative through the crowd and Hiccup winced.

The teenager didn't understand why his father was delaying the decision. It hurt to think about, but it had to be done. Astrid would make a good first choice; she was strong and cared about the tribe. Fishlegs was intelligent even if he was a bit of a coward. The twins...well at least Tuffnut had trained a bit with the officiator. Hiccup could live with anyone taking his place as heir. Anyone but-

"Snotlout will be my heir."

Hiccup stumbled away from the door. He could live with losing his place as heir. He could live with the hatred and resentment of the tribe. He could live with a lot of things, but not this. Snotlout had made his life a living hell ever since Hiccup had lost his sight. His cousin just did not have the empathy needed to lead!

The teens chest felt tight as he turned and fled down the steps. If Snotlout was chief then Hiccup was certain his life would be a hundred times worse. Hiccup wasn't even sure he'd live a month after his cousin took over.

Ignoring the few people not in the meeting Hiccup made his way as quickly back home. He needed to think and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	6. Giving In or Giving Up

Giving in or Giving up

Chapter 6

The next day the announcement was made to the entire tribe. Stoick stood in front of everyone in the Great Hall with Snotlout by his side and announced that his nephew would be his heir.

Hiccup chose to stay home that day. It wasn't like he needed to be there and in fact his father had suggested that he stay home to 'rest'.

The teen scoffed as went over the discussion he and his father had had the night before. It'd been hours before his father had returned from the meeting and by then Gobber had already come over and cooked up some dinner for them.

After asking Gobber to head home Stoick had hesitantly and brokenly told Hiccup about the meeting. Since Hiccup had heard part of the meeting by accident he wasn't surprised by the news.

What really upset Hiccup was that Stoick, his father, didn't even try to apologize or explain. His father had just told him that Snotlout would replace him as heir and that was that. His father didn't even want Hiccup's opinion.

"I know he's just trying to protect me." Hiccup mumbled softly as he curled up on his side.

If his father hadn't named a new heir then the tribe could have turned on Stoick. Spitelout would have probably been made chief and then where would Hiccup be? At least with Snotlout named as heir Hiccup had a few years to figure something out.

"As if I have a place." He'd been trying, gods had he been trying, but without his sight he couldn't do anything.

Gobber had suggested Hiccup apprentice with the Officiate or one of the Elders to memorize the tribe's history. At least then Hiccup could be useful to the next chief. There was no denying that Hiccup had a sound and intelligent mind.

But sitting behind Snotlout whispering his opinion, which would probably be ignored, for the rest of his life did not seem like a satisfying life to Hiccup.

"Maybe I'll be a bread making viking." It was something Hiccup could do with his hands at least that wouldn't require vision for the most part.

As much as Hiccup tried to distract himself it wasn't working. He could hear the distant cheers of the tribe and he could only imagine that his father had just announced that Snotlout was the new heir.

Hiccup knew what would come next. With Snotlout proclaimed heir the vikings that would be joining his father in the expedition would board the ships and head for the nest. Stoick wouldn't even come home to say goodbye since the man had already said as much that morning.

At least the tribe would be too busy to notice if Hiccup slipped out to go and visit Toothless. He hadn't seen the dragon in a few days and at this point in his life visiting his unlikely friend was the only good thing he had to look forward too.

With the plan to go and see Toothless Hiccup hopped out of bed.

A thought struck Hiccup as he reached out to take his walking stick which was leaning against the wall next to his bed. The idea was insane and Hiccup knew there would be a lot of obstacles that he would have to get over, but the more he thought about it the more he liked it.

Hiccup sat back down on his bed as he considered what had come to him. He had no place here on Berk anymore and his future was as foggy air around the Dragon nest was. If Hiccup stayed in the village then maybe he could eventually find his place, find something he could do without his eyesight, but if he left...

The implications of leaving were huge. Hiccup might be able to find a better life out in the world and if he was with his dragon friend then he'd at least have a chance.

In order to leave though Hiccup would have to ride Toothless. The few times that he and Toothless had flown had been short and a bit painful. A saddle would need to be made if Hiccup planned on riding Toothless for prolonged amounts of time. He would also need to figure out what to pack to take with him.

As Hiccup quietly left the village he considered his options. A saddle would be difficult to make, and he would probably even have to ask for help, but it wouldn't be impossible. Leather was easier to work with then metal and wouldn't require fire to manipulate. The material was also sturdy and wouldn't slip around in his hands as he worked with it like cloth would.

It probably wouldn't even be difficult to convince Gobber to help him with the leather saddle. The blacksmith was determined to help Hiccup find something that he could do without eyesight. If anyone had questions Hiccup could just tell them that a saddle would be the easiest project to start with. A saddle was large and a simple one didn't require too much work.

Hiccup grinned as he walked, his walking stick lightly tapping against the dirt to help guide him. Yes. He could do it! Hiccup would learn how to make a saddle that would fit Toothless and then the two of them could escape to a new life together.

"You know you can't surprise me. I know when you're in the trees." Hiccup asked the world around him. He heard a soft thud next to him and Hiccup smirked. "What would you say if we just up and left Berk?"

Toothless grumbled a bit but he nuzzled at Hiccup's outstretched hand even before the boy had fully extended it.

For the past few visits Toothless had made it a game to try and sneak up on his human friend; to test his hearing. The dragon had found no matter how still he was Hiccup always seemed to be able to hear when he was near.

"Well? Would you be up to us taking off and just flying far away from this place?" Hiccup asked again even as he climbed up onto Toothless' back so that the two of them could get to the cove faster.

Toothless was happy with the idea. He disliked being so close to a large human settlement, but since meeting the young blind boy he hadn't been able to make himself leave the island. The boy was like a hatchling in how defenseless he was and even after such a short amount of time knowing him Toothless had become protective.

Ever since the day Hiccup had broken down against him Toothless had grown even more protective of the boy. It was obvious the humans had no idea how to care for or protect one such as Hiccup so it was up to the dragon to take up the position of protector.

It wasn't a question of if they should leave though; it was a question of where to go. The only reason Toothless was even close to this island was to help the dragons under the Queen's command. She was barely strong enough to control Toothless himself and only when he lost focus, but the other dragons were slaves to her hunger.

So the Queen's nest was out of the question. But where should they go? There were a few options that Toothless could come up with, but each one made him feel wary. Most dragons felt the same way about humans as humans felt towards dragons so the few nests that Toothless knew of would probably turn them away.

Toothless was pulled from his thoughts when he felt some sort of vine go around his neck.

The dragon stayed still as the vine, which was being moved around by Hiccup, left his neck to stretch down his back. His little human was mumbling numbers to himself as he worked.

And that was another problem that the two of them had. Even though Toothless could understand Hiccup the human could only understand so much through touches and pushes.

If the two of them were going to fly together then Hiccup would need to understand Toothless completely. The boy was at a disadvantage without his sight so he wouldn't be able to just look at Toothless and know what needed to be done. Hiccup needed to be able to hear what Toothless had to say.

"I shouldn't have too much trouble making a saddle for your size. People already think I'm useless might as well add crazy on top of that." Hiccup said as he coiled up the knotted cord he'd been using to measure Toothless.

Even as Toothless considered the options available to him he still unconsciously coiled around his human who had gone quiet.

The two spent several more hours together before Hiccup insisted that he head back to the village. Just as Hiccup had suspected his father was already gone with the Berk fleet by the time the teen returned. Astrid was waiting for Hiccup along with Gobber who was working on dinner for them.

"You were gone for a long time." Astrid commented as lightly as she could. "You missed your father's announcement and the fleet leaving." She watched with a careful eye as Hiccup set his walking stick against the wall next to the stairs and then took his seat near the fire.

Hiccup shrugged a little and made a vague gesture with one hand. "I did a lot of thinking." His voice had a tinge of ice too it as he replied in the direction Astrid's voice had come from. "Besides...I wasn't needed." He laughed a bit coldly at that as his empty gaze focused on the fire that was in front of him.

Astrid shifted from foot to foot before sitting down when Gobber pointed at an empty chair.

"What were ye thinking 'bout lad?" Gobber asked cheerfully as he handed Hiccup a bowl of the cooked stew.

Hiccup held the bowl in both hands to make sure it was secure before he started eating. "Can you help me relearn how to work with leather?" He might as well get the question over with since Gobber was there.

Gobber sat back in surprise for a moment before he laughed happily and slapped his knee. "Of course I can! If I can work with leather one handed then you should do fine!"

"Leather work?" Astrid frowned a little; hadn't Hiccup already tried to make a leather bag months ago? She hadn't seen the finished product, but she'd assumed since Hiccup hadn't said anything then the experience had been a failure.

Hiccup turned his head a bit and his eyes darted to the side as if to stare at her. The misted over green eyes sent a shiver down Astrid's spine. The teen didn't say anything as eyes stayed fixed on Astrid.

She tried to look away from his gaze, but she couldn't. She knew he couldn't see her, she knew him looking at her was just muscle memory from years of being able to see, but knowing all that did not make breaking his gaze any easier.

Finally Hiccup blinked and his eyes went back to staring blankly into the fire and Astrid let out a breath of relief.

"I better head home." Astrid quickly stood up after that to head for the door. She couldn't tell if Hiccup was mad at her or not, but she knew when he wanted her to leave him alone.

Gobber waved at Astrid as she left. "Don' forget 'bout training tomorrow." He called after her. The man caught her nod just as the door closed with a heavy bump.

Silence surrounded the two for awhile after that; which was only broken by the sounds of the fire popping and the two eating.

"Ye could lighten up on the lass."

Hiccup didn't bother to glance up at Gobber. He only ever looked at a person when they irritated him. "I don't know what you mean."

The one handed man rolled his eyes and tapped his peg leg against the ground. "I know ye know ye scare people with those eyes of yours." It'd been nearly a year since Hiccup had lost his sight and Gobber knew his apprentice. "Astrid means well and she wants to do right by ye. Staring at her until she's practically crawling out of her skin is no way to punish the lass."

The blind teen mulled over his friend's words for a moment. "What makes you think I'm punishing her?" he smirked a bit at that. "And for what?"

Gobber shook his head and frowned at his old apprentice. "I don' know what ye are punishing her for, or why, but I know ye. If nothing else she is trying." he said those last few words slowly and gently.

Hiccup winced slightly and he tilted his head down feeling a little guilty. Gobber was right that he was punishing Astrid, but in all honesty he didn't know why he was doing it. Astrid annoyed him, that much he knew, but he also knew that she was just trying to fulfill her life debt to him.

"I just wish she wouldn't try so hard!" Hiccup finally said as he organized the words in his head. "She wasn't as bad as the others back before this happened," he reached up to touch the corner of his scar. "but she was still a jerk. Now it's like...like-" He floundered then.

"It's like she's piling everything up right on top of ye." Hiccup nodded and then rubbed his eyes wearily. "Give her and ye time to adjust. Be patient."

Hiccup smiled a little as he felt a hand come down on his shoulder and he leaned into Gobber's hug when it came.

"So...about that leather work?"

Gobber chuckled and ruffled Hiccup's hair with his good hand. "We can start tomorrow if ye really want too. What were ye thinking?"

"I want to make a saddle." Hiccup scraped his spoon around the bottom of his empty bowl. "A saddle will be big enough without being too big to handle. A bag was just too small and the details were lost to me."

The blacksmith nodded and rubbed his chin. "Aye the bag was a bad idea; although it did work."

Hiccup snorted at that. "The sewing was lopsided and anything too small would have fallen out the bottom."

The two had a good laugh over that semi failed project before Hiccup finally called it a night and went upstairs.

The first step for Hiccup's escape of Berk was done. So long as the saddle didn't take to much time to make Hiccup was sure he and Toothless could be away well before his father returned from his expedition into the nest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	7. First Step to Freedom

First Step to Freedom

Chapter 7

"Ye're doing good so far. Ye cut the general shape of the saddle pretty evenly and it only took you three tries."

As he had promised the night before Gobber was currently working with Hiccup with the leather project. The two had decided to work together in the morning before dragon training so that Hiccup could go about the village before the majority of the vikings had woken up.

"Sorry about ruining all that material." Hiccup said as he carefully measured the leather he'd finished cutting with the knotted cord he kept with him.

Gobber waved a hand and made a light hearted sound of forgiveness. "Ye're fine. The scraps can still be used for other things." Even leather strips could be used for weapon handles or for mending broken straps.

"Yer sure that's the shape you want though?" Gobber asked for the hundreth time as he watched his Apprentice check over the first part of the saddle. "It's...oddly shaped for a horse." Not that there were many horses in the archipelago. It could work for a yak now that Gobber really thought about it.

With a shrug of his shoulders Hiccup put his knotted cord away and set the cut leather down. "I just wanted to do something different."

Gobber wasn't about to argue with his young friend, especially seeing as how Hiccup seemed to be in such a good mood. If the boy wanted to make an oddly shaped saddle then that was his choice; at least it was something!

"Well I need to stop here. Dragon training and all that." Gobber landed a hand against Hiccup's back a little too strongly and the teen stumbled forward a little with a laugh. "Did ye want to keep working without me?"

Quickly Hiccup shook his head. As much as he wanted to be able to finish the saddle and leave with Toothless Hiccup knew he couldn't make any mistakes with this. Once he left Berk then the dragon and teen would be on their own and Hiccup wouldn't have all the tools to fix the saddle if it broke from a mistake he made while making it.

"I'll go for a walk for awhile." Hiccup smiled cheerfully at Gobber to show the blacksmith that everything was fine.

Leaving Berk did seem like the best choice for Hiccup, but he knew there would be people that he would miss. His father, despite the man's harsh method of raising Hiccup, was still his father. Stoick had been there to protect him even if most of the time Hiccup felt like the man had just been cleaning up after him.

Gobber...Hiccup would really miss Gobber. The blacksmith had been a surrogate father when Stoick couldn't be there. Gobber had always thought Hiccup had had a future in the Hooligan tribe. Even when the rest of Berk had had glared and cursed at Hiccup Gobber hadn't.

And maybe Hiccup would miss Astrid a little. Even though the girl was annoying now at least she tried to make up for the torment she'd been a part of in Hiccup's early life. Then again she'd only ever glared and called him useless a few times so she hadn't been that bad.

There were a few other vikings in Berk that Hiccup would miss, but those three people were at the top of his short list.

Still he couldn't stay. With his cousin the new heir Hiccup knew his time would run out eventually. It was a blessing that Snotlout had to go through dragon training; it gave Hiccup enough time alone to be safe.

* * *

"Ok Toothless, you ready to try this out?" The first chance Hiccup got after making the saddle he snuck it out of the village and to the cove.

With a single sniff into the air Toothless caught the scent of dead animal flesh that had been dried and oiled. He wrinkled his snout at the scent and ducked out of the way when the blind teen came closer aiming to put it on his back.

"Come on Toothless! I can't make adjustments if you won't try it on." Hiccup's arms dropped and the straps of the saddle dragged through the dusty dirt. He could hear Toothless darting and circling around him so Hiccup didn't even bother trying to chase after the silly creature.

Toothless whipped his tail out to smack at Hiccup's back.

Hiccup quickly dropped the saddle and ducked out of the way when he heard the tell tale sound of scales scraping over the ground and the wind catching on Toothless' tail fins.

"Bud! The sooner we try out this saddle the sooner we can leave this place for good!" Hiccup pointed out as he spun around to face the dragon. He heard Toothless sniffing and prodding the saddle that he had dropped in order to avoid the back slap.

The dragon snorted a little and rubbed at the oil he had gotten on his snout after touching the saddle. Toothless couldn't understand why his little human needed this dead animal skin in order to fly; it wasn't like Toothless was going to let his human fall during flight.

Still...Hiccup seemed determined to at least try out the contraption.

With a sigh Toothless finally let Hiccup approach so he could pick up the animal skin. He grumbled, loudly, as Hiccup settled it onto Toothless' back and then buckled the straps in place.

"There we go! That wasn't so bad now was it?" Hiccup said with satisfaction as he felt around to make sure everything was in place and not hindering Toothless.

Toothless shook his back and stretched out his wings in irritation. Having the saddle on his back was an odd feeling and the oil getting on his scales from the leather left him feeling like he needed to roll around in a nice grassy field for awhile.

"Ok!" Once Hiccup was convinced the saddle wouldn't rub Toothless the wrong way he climbed up onto the dragon's back. "Let's test this out bud! I'll be able to hang on now so we can fly around properly!"

Those were the only words Toothless needed to hear. Before Hiccup could protest, or make more adjustments, Toothless spread his wings wide and threw himself into the air as fast as possible.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup yelled as he was pressed flat against the dragon's neck and into the saddle. "You useless REPTILE!"

Even as the teen attempted to chastise his dragon companion Hiccup could feel a gurgling vibration through his hands which were pressed firmly against Toothless' throat.

"You're laughing at me! Dear Odin you're laughing at me!" Hiccup didn't get the chance to complain or yell at Toothless again when suddenly there was a lack of gravity around the teen.

Hiccup thanked every god he could think of as the belt harness he had made at the last minute kept him from being thrown from the saddle.

There was a subtle movement against Hiccup's hand that distracted the teen from having a panic attack. On instinct he leaned into a sudden turn that his dragon made.

Hiccup had spent so much time memorizing Toothless' body type with his hands, measuring him for the saddle, that he had somehow learned how to read the dragon's movements.

Toothless' muscles tightened again under Hiccup's hand and the teen leaned against Toothless. The dragon began gaining speed and with Hiccup pressing his chest against Toothless' neck he could feel even more subtle clues as to how Toothless was going to fly.

The flip though was not completely expected and Hiccup found himself yelling at Toothless again for being a show off.

As the two came out of the flip and evened out though Hiccup couldn't help but laugh and shout happily. He threw his hands up and cheered. The two of them had finally shared a proper flight!

"Oh come on!" Hiccup cried out as he heard a tell tale plasma blast leave his friend and then as residue heat hit his face.

The flight ended with Hiccup and Toothless relaxing on an outcropping of rock with a pile of fish.

"You know," Hiccup started to say as he very carefully cooked a fish that he had speared onto a stick he had found. "Because of all the work I put into making the saddle I learned how to read your movements." He chuckled when Toothless' only reply was to cough up a slimy portion of fish and then drop it next to Hiccup.

"No thanks bud, I'm good." The teen figured a few more flights, and several modifications to the saddle, the two of them would be able to fly without too much hesitation. Hiccup might even be able to read Toothless and his movements well enough in the future that he might even be able to predict how Toothless would fly.

Soft wing beats filled the air and not seconds later squeaking terrible terrors landed on the rock outcropping with them.

Hiccup chuckled and rubbed at Toothless' neck when the dragon growled at the smaller dragons.

"Come on bud, their just hungry." Hiccup took one of his own fish and gently tossed it in the direction of the terrible terrors. He guessed there to be about 4, maybe 5, terrible terrors around them. He could only guess as to what the little dragons were doing, but it was obvious they were stealing fish from Toothless.

One of the terrible terrors though cautiously approached Hiccup. It rubbed its head against Hiccup's arm and when the teen moved the appendage out of the way he felt the little terror curl up in his lap.

He smiled a little and gently rested his hand on the terror's back. "We had you guys all wrong." He mumbled as he finished cooking his fish. The terrible terror seemed to purr in his lap in response and it left a warm feeling in Hiccup's chest.

Toothless watched the innocent interaction between his human and the resting terrible terror. Once again it became obvious to the night fury that his human was nothing like the others of his race and that there was something special about Hiccup.

Soon the two of them would leave and Toothless would find a place where his human would be safe and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	8. Into the Night

Into the Night

Chapter 8

He was stalling. For the past several weeks Hiccup had been stalling to leave and he knew it. After his and Toothless' first flight Hiccup had started altering the saddle. It took two more flights to finish the adjustments needed on the saddle.

After the saddle was complete Hiccup figured he would need a new pack that could be attached to the saddle to carry his things. But then after the pack was done Hiccup decided he would need some sort of protection from the cold and any injuries he might get after leaving.

Luckily for Hiccup the armor was easy to make, thanks to Gobber's help, all Hiccup had to do was take some old leather gear and make adjustments.

The last thing he decided to work on was just something that Hiccup had come up with at the last moment.

"How's the new needle working out?"

Hiccup paused in his work to instinctively look up at the owner of the voice. Even before his empty eyes landed on Astrid he was already focusing his attention back on the leather helmet/mask combination he was working on.

"It's a lot better then the one Gobber gave me." Hiccup's fingers worked carefully to measure the distance between each point in the mask before the needle slipped and curved through the leather. "Thanks."

Astrid shifted a little and leaned against the wall. After dragon training had ended she'd gone to search for the blind teen and had found him in the backroom of Gobber's forge.

It was eerie finding the blind teen sitting at his desk without a single candle to illuminate his work. Small smudges of blood dotted the desk from when Hiccup had stabbed himself with a leather work needle. His auburn hair was a mess and his bangs were long enough now to almost reach the tip of his nose. He looked almost deranged and if Astrid wasn't used to the whole effect now she would have felt a cold chill go down her spine.

"Your hair has gotten really long." Astrid commented with a slight smirk. "When was the last time you even brushed it?"

Hiccup chuckled softly and shook his head. As much as he didn't care about the length of his hair he had to admit that it was becoming a hassle; mostly his bangs. At least he could tie back the rest of his hair.

It wasn't that his bangs were getting in the way of his vision, Hiccup mentally laughed at that thought, but the edges of his bangs did have a habit of making his nose itchy.

"Cutting leather is a heck of a lot easier then cutting hair." He reached to his right and grabbed a specially designed blade and lifted it up. Hiccup tapped the tip of the blade against his forehead. "Can you imagine what I'd look like if I tried to cut my hair?"

Astrid shivered and snorted. "Yeah. Not the best idea."

Silence settled between the two teens before finally Astrid huffed and reached out to grab Hiccup's hand. "Come on. I'll cut your hair, but I need more light then what's coming in through the door."

Hiccup barely avoided stabbing his finger when his hand was jostled from its carefully placed position. "Come on Astrid! My hair isn't that bad!"

All Hiccup got in response was a snort.

Maybe it was because he knew he was going to leave, but for the past couple weeks he felt like he and Astrid had been getting along better. She had been giving him a little more space which had given Hiccup the time he needed to work.

Soon enough the pair were by his house and Hiccup could feel the heat of the sun against his skin.

"The final test is tomorrow." Astrid said as she worked with a comb to straighten Hiccup's hair before trimming at the edges. "Everyone's sure I'll win."

Hiccup hummed in response and closed his eyes as he felt strands of hair land on his cheeks.

Astrid worked on Hiccup's hair silently for a few minutes before trying to again to strike up a conversation. "Gobber says you're getting really good at leather work."

"Gobber does most of the cutting. I just put the pieces together." Hiccup would have shrugged but Astrid flicked at his ear to make him hold still.

"Yeah well he says you give really good instructions before he cuts." She brushed off the excess hair from Hiccup's shoulders. "You should hear how he raves about you during dragon training."

The teen boy rolled his eyes at that. He wasn't that great at leather work; he was just determined to get his work done so he and Toothless could leave.

"I agree with him."

Astrid's words were soft, but with how close she was to cut his hair Hiccup could hear her words easily. He stayed quiet to see if she would continue.

The sound of the knife cutting his hair was all Hiccup could hear and just as he was about to ask what she had meant, Astrid sighed.

"I saw what you did to that leather armor. And the bag. That saddle was really well done as well." Astrid brushed away the last of the fallen strands and took a step back to see how she'd done.

"Well...at least you don't look like some troll anymore."

Hiccup reached up to rub at his shortened bangs and sighed when they felt relatively straight and even.

"Although," Hiccup could hear the humor in Astrid's voice as she tried to make a joke. "You might make a cute troll."

The teens both laughed at that and after a few more minutes of light talk Astrid gave her goodbye and excused herself.

Even as she left Hiccup stayed where he had been sitting so he could feel the sun on his skin a little longer. For a moment his heart clenched in his chest and he wondered if he really needed to leave anymore.

He and Astrid were on better terms, that much was for sure. She wasn't desperate to help him out anymore and at least they could talk without him getting annoyed as much anymore. He had a skill set again that would make him useful for the tribe.

The only real problem for him now was-

"Hey Useless!"

Hiccup groaned in annoyance as his least favorite person made his presence known.

"What do you want Snotlout?" Hiccup's good mood evaporated and he had little patience for his cousin so his words came out a bit short.

Other then Astrid and Gobber the majority of the tribe had taken to avoiding Hiccup. He knew there were those in the tribe that viewed his loss of sight as a curse, punishment from the gods, and he knew others only gave him respect because of his heroic sacrifice to save Astrid. His cousin though had only become more cocky since his father's announcement.

The rustling of Snotlout's clothes and the pungent stink that came off of his cousin warned Hiccup that Snotlout was just out of arms reach.

"Tomorrow's my name day cousin," A chill went down Hiccup's spine as Snotloud continued. "You know what I want?"

Hiccup tried to sound more confident then he felt at that moment. "A new Hammer?" He tried to stop himself, but Hiccup had to add more. "Actual intelligence?"

The blind teen expected to be punched and he flinched away in preparation, but it didn't come. Instead he heard a cold laugh and a hand on his shoulder. Hiccup quickly pulled away and stood up so that his cousin wouldn't be looming over him.

"Oh cousin. Always with the funny." Snotlout laughed, but the sound only filled Hiccup with apprehension.

"No. What I want," Snotlout leaned in so that only Hiccup would hear him. "Is for you to have an accident."

Hiccup jumped back and away from his cousin. His foot came in contact with his staff and he quickly reached to scoop up the length of wood.

Snotlout watched as his cousin fumbled to try and protect himself from the perceived threat.

"You know I was actually sad when you got hurt and lost your sight." Snotlout started picking the dirt out from under his nails as he spoke. "But then your dad named me as heir! I would have been fine to let you live your life out as the useless blind boy...but then my dad told me something."

Snotlout was tempted to reach out and take Hiccup's staff to scare him, but he decided to wait. "My dad told me that you'd get the final say in who Astrid got to marry."

"You want to marry Astrid." Everyone knew that Snotlout was pursing Astrid; the boy had been after Astrid's attention since all the teens had been small children.

"Which won't happen as long as she owes you a life debt." It was then that Snotlout reached out and grabbed the front of Hiccup's shirt. Snotlout dragged his cousin forward so that they were nose to nose.

Hiccup almost gagged at the rank smell of his cousin's breath. Even Toothless' breath, which was extremely fishy, was better then Snotlout's breath.

"So tomorrow you and I are going to go for a walk. Who knows where. But when I come back I'll be alone." Snotlout pushed Hiccup hard enough to make him fall onto his back side. "Maybe I'll get a search party together fast enough to rescue you. Maybe I'll have hurt my ankle and was too slow. That will depend on you."

Snotlout turned to leave. "See you tomorrow cousin."

Hiccup's heart raced in his chest and he stayed on the ground where he had fallen until he was sure Snotlout was gone.

"Shit." The blind teen scrambled to his feet and then raced into his home. "Shit shit shit!"

He'd just been reconsidering his decision to leave gods damn it! And now his cousin was threatening his life. Hiccup didn't have a choice but to run away. He had gotten better at protecting himself, thanks to Astrid and Gobber, but his cousin was strong and could take him out with a single punch.

Hiccup could only imagine what Snotlout had planned for the following day. The longer Hiccup's mind went over the possible outcomes the worse they got. He could see his cousin pushing him over a ledge, trapping him under a boulder, even drowning him. All Snotlout had to do was claim it was an accident; that Hiccup had tripped over something.

Quickly Hiccup got his pack and started putting his things inside. Thankfully he'd been preparing to leave for the past few weeks so it didn't take long to make sure he had everything together from his home.

By the time his pack had everything in it from inside his home night had fallen. He slipped from the home he had spent his childhood in, despite it being rebuilt often, and made his way down to the forge.

The coolness of the night told Hiccup that it was late enough that Gobber would be home and not within the forge. The silence around the forge confirmed that Gobber had retired for the evening.

Hiccup quickly went to the backroom and gathered up his leather working tools. He hesitated to take the leather needle that Astrid had given him, but he quickly relented to his logical side and added the perfectly curved needle to his tools. Lastly he scooped up the leather helmet and mask before leaving.

For a moment Hiccup stopped and considered going to Gobber. If he told the viking that Snotlout had threatened then maybe the blacksmith might be able to help him. When both Hiccup's father and uncle were gone then Gobber was in charge.

Hiccup shook his head and let the door to his work room close. Maybe Gobber could save him tomorrow, but what about the day after? Or next month? Or when Snotlout was chief? Hiccup knew Snotlout's attempts to get rid of him would only get more and more violent the longer Hiccup was around.

A year ago running around in the dark would have frightened Hiccup, now it didn't even bother him. The sounds though...they were what frightened him as he hurried through the forest to the cove where Toothless waited for him.

He was so worked up and his heart was beating so hard that by the time he made it to the cove Hiccup felt like he was going to pass out.

"Toothless." Hiccup called out as he made it down the path that he and Toothless had made for him some time ago.

He felt heat radiating out to his side and Hiccup calmed down some when he heard a warm cooing from Toothless.

"Oh bud." Hiccup dropped his pack and reached out to hug the dragon around it's neck.

Toothless could tell something was very wrong with his little human. He had awoken some time ago when he had first heard the disturbance out in the forest. When Hiccup's panicked scent had reached Toothless the dragon had been about to go and find his friend.

Now Toothless' only concern was calming his little human.

"We have to leave bud. Tonight. I don't think I'll be alive after tomorrow if my cousin has his way." Hiccup explained quickly as he pressed his cheek against Toothless' neck.

The dragon growled at the very idea of his little human coming to harm, but the rumbling sensation only seemed to calm Hiccup more.

The hug lasted another few minutes until finally Hiccup's pounding heart was back to normal. Hiccup gave Toothless a light squeeze to show that he was alright again. "Are you ok to leave tonight?"

Hiccup felt Toothless nudge at him and then he heard his pack shift. The teen smiled at the dragon's unspoken acceptance to leave. "Alright. Thanks bud." With that decided Hiccup made sure the saddle was in place on Toothless' back and then attached his pack to the saddle.

"Let's get out of here bud." Hiccup slipped his helmet on and then pulled the mask down to protect his face from the cold of flight.

With a silent farewell in his heart Hiccup climbed up on Toothless' back. Soon enough the two were in the air and flying away from the only home that Hiccup had ever known.

In the morning it was Astrid that discovered that Hiccup was missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	9. New Found Freedom

New Found Freedom

Chapter 9

"Hey Hiccup is it ok if I come in?" Astrid asked even as she opened the front door to Hiccup's home and went inside. "It's just that Snotlout is already up and being super annoying." She knew why; the entire village knew why! It was Snotlout's name day and now that he was heir he was determined to make the day all about him.

Astrid grunted in annoyance as she poked the embers in the fireplace back to life. She looked around and frowned at the mess she found. It looked like a herd of terrible terrors had broken in and had trashed the place. Clothes were scattered about, bowls and plates were flipped over on the table, various weapons had been knocked off the walls, and several stools were knocked over.

"Did you try to cook last night or something?" Astrid called up to Hiccup's room as she started working at straightening up everything. "Or did you have a party and not invite me?"

Usually by now Astrid would have gotten some sort of response from Hiccup, but still she didn't hear anything coming from Hiccup's room. She couldn't even hear any movement.

"Hiccup?" Astrid hesitantly started walking up the steps to the blind teen's room. When Hiccup had gotten used to going up and down the stairs by himself without any help Astrid had stopped going up to his room. She knew that Hiccup sometimes found her annoying to be around so she'd been trying to give him space.

"Hey, Hiccup?" She knocked at his door and waited a moment before pushing the door open.

With the morning light filtering in through the open window Astrid was able to quickly ascertain that Hiccup was in fact not in his room.

She frowned deeply and rubbed at the back of her head. Was it possible that he had gone to the forge early to work on his helmet project?

When she made it down to the forge though the only person she found was Gobber.

"Hey Gobber have you seen Hiccup?" She asked as she leaned against the window counter.

The one handed blacksmith paused in his work on the hammer that Snotlout had practically demanded be made for his name day.

"Nah lass. 'iccup hasn't been in yet." He wiped his brow and then rubbed his chin. "Have ye checked his house yet?"

Astrid nodded and frowned. "I was just there. It was a mess up there, like someone had ransacked the place."

The two were silent for a moment in thought. "I'll go check the field he likes. Maybe he's up there." Sometimes Hiccup went up to the filed up on the cliff in the mornings so he could feel the rising sun.

Gobber nodded. "When ye find him send him my way." Snotlout had been bragging last night at the evening meal about how he was going to be spending time with his 'poor lonely cousin' and Gobber had a bad feeling about it. The best thing to do was to keep Hiccup close by until the entire day was over.

The girl nodded and left. At one point she heard Snotlout's grating voice and she made a lengthy detour around the village to avoid him.

Hiccup was not at the field he enjoyed to rest in. Nor was he at Gothi's, the dining hall, or the docks. It was like he'd disappeared during the night and it worried Astrid.

"There's my princess!" Astrid groaned loudly when she heard the voice she'd been trying to avoid all day.

"Not now Snotlout." She would have just walked away, but there was a hand grabbing her shoulder that stopped her. At least there was until she spun around and clocked Snotlout right in the nose. "I said not now Snotlout!"

Snotlout cried out and rubbed at his abused face for a moment before wiping away the blood. He tried to grin at Astrid to show her that he didn't mind the injury despite the tears in his eyes.

"What a nice love tap! And here I thought you'd been avoiding me all day!"

The teenage girl rolled her eyes and stormed away from the bleeding boy only to find that he was following after her.

"I was avoiding you Snotlout. Go away." She stopped suddenly as a thought came to her. Astrid spun around and grabbed Snotlout by the front of his shirt and snarled in his face. "What did you do to Hiccup?!"

It was the only logical explanation for Hiccup's disappearance. Hiccup wouldn't just vanish unless someone had purposefully made him.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I was just about to go find him myself." Snotlout brought his hands up to shield himself from another punch as Astrid lifted her free fist to aim at his face.

Astrid knew Snotlout was a horrible liar and yet she couldnt' help but believe him. Usually when he tried to lie to her he would add some sort of compliment or flirtatious remark.

With a huff of annoyance Astrid released Snotlout and then made a move to punch him again. "I swear Snotlout if you have so much as TOUCHED Hiccup I will make sure your life is a living hell; future chief or not." With that she stormed away and thankfully Snotlout did not follow.

By night fall it was well known within the village that Hiccup was missing. Snotlout even seemed worried, but Astrid knew his worry had more to do with her threat then him actually caring about his cousin.

Gobber organized the search party and Astrid led the group of teens as the searched a portion of the forest.

"How could a blind guy go this far?" Tuffnut complained as the group continued to search the dark woods with their torches.

"You'd be surprised." Astrid mumbled as she watched the ground for tracks that Hiccup usually left. His footsteps were surprisingly hard to follow and the slashes in the dirt that were usually made with his staff were practically nonexistent.

Astrid was sure that Hiccup had walked this path many times before if the tracks she was reading were accurate. Was this the way he went when he was avoiding the village?

"Maybe he's back home by now?" Fishlegs suggested wearily. He jumped as a rabbit darted away from the bush he'd just brushed up against. "Ooooh I'm sure he's home by now!"

Ruffnut made a face at Tuffnut and they both smirked mischievously. "Or maybe," Ruffnut snuck up to one side of Fishlegs while Tuffnut went to the other. "He was ambushed by a DRAGON!" Both twins jumped up and grabbed Fishlegs by the arms intent on terrifying him.

Their prank worked. Fishlegs squealed and darted ahead of the group faster then Astrid could stop him.

"Damn it you two!" Astrid spun around on the twins and pointed her axe at them. "Now the tracks are ruined." It had been hard enough following the trail and now with Fishlegs' foot prints everywhere Astrid wouldn't be able to see Hiccup's at all.

"Guys."

Astrid swung her axe around at a tree and left a deep gash through it. "This isn't a game! Hiccup could be lost out here! There really are dragons out here that could kill him!"

"Guys?"

"And all you guys can think about is tormenting each other!"

"GUYS!" Astrid spun around and pointed her axe at the returned Fishlegs. He threw up his hands to show he was unarmed.

"What Fishlegs?!" Astrid demanded as she lowered her axe.

Fishlegs gulped loudly and the pointed a finger off to his right. "I found something."

Astrid send a glare at Fishlegs and then the others before stomping into the direction that Fishlegs had pointed out.

If she hadn't already been on edge Astrid might have missed the drop off that the underbrush concealed. She was tempted to let Snotlout fall off the edge of the high rock wall, but at the last moment she grabbed the back of his shirt so he wouldn't.

"Yeah you definitely found something." Ruffnut said as her twin brother whistled. Below them was the little cove that Toothless and Hiccup had spent a great deal of time in.

* * *

"I wish I knew where you were taking me bud."

The two had been flying for hours and it wasn't until Hiccup had fallen asleep for the third time that Toothless had finally found a sea stack solid enough to rest on. The young teen had been so exhausted he hadn't even been able to pull out his blankets. Instead he had just curled up against his dragon's side and had fallen into a deep sleep.

It was well into morning when Toothless finally nudged at Hiccup until he was awake again. While Hiccup ate from the rations he had packed Toothless caught what fish he could from around the sea stack.

' _I wish I could tell you.'_ Toothless crooned at his human as the two of them relaxed for a little while longer.

The night fury knew exactly where they were going, but with his companion blind and the two of them unable to communicate the knowledge was impossible to share.

If everything worked out the way Toothless hoped though then at least one of those problems could be fixed.

Hiccup stretched and carefully repacked his the few things he'd pulled from his pack. He felt around, both on the sea stack and in his pack, to make sure everything was accounted for.

"Ok. Well wherever we're going we might as well get back to it." Hiccup put his pack back onto Toothless and then climbed into the saddle. "I trust you bud."

Hiccup may not have known where they were going exactly, but he could feel which direction the sun was going as they flew. He knew that the sun rose in the east and set in the west so with the heat of the sun as a guide Hiccup figured out that they were flying to the South East.

"If we keep going this way we'll be near Outcast Island." Hiccup was almost a hundred percent sure of the direction they were going in.

Toothless crooned at his companion to comfort him and then tilted his wings so that they could gain some altitude.

Unfortunately Hiccup was right. Currently they were halfway between Berk and the place known as Outcast Island, but where they needed to go was just beyond that dreadfully bleak place. If it wasn't absolutely necessary that they go to the island Toothless had in mind then the dragon would have gone for the nest to the North East of Berk.

Toothless really wished they didn't have to go the island in question. It was smack dab between the outcasts, eels, and dragon trappers. If he and Hiccup made one wrong move then they'd have to leave in a hurry.

As they gained altitude Hiccup was thankful for the altered leather armor he wore. He could tell there was a bite in the air every time he took a breath through his mask. He tucked his fingers between the saddle and Toothless so he could leech off of the heat that the dragon always seemed to give off.

"I wish I could see this." Hiccup sighed softly as he lifted his mask so he could feel the wind against his cheeks, despite its chill. "Flying must look amazing. It must be a whole other world up here."

' _You have no idea my friend.'_ Toothless sighed happily as he locked his wings so the two of them could glide.

Even if his friend could not see the amazing sight that was flying Toothless could at least help him feel it.

Slowly Toothless tilted his wings so that the two of them flew through the clouds in a graceful spiral. He made sure to find some of the fluffiest clouds so that Hiccup could get a sense as to what they were flying through.

At first Hiccup clung to Toothless' saddle as his friend turned and veered off course. And then something strange hit his cheeks. Hesitantly Hiccup removed a glove and reached up to touch his cheeks. They were damp, as if he had been crying, but the droplets were cool to his finger tips. When he tasted the damp dew drops they were as clean and fresh as water from a babbling brook.

The cool dampness went across his face again and filled his hair as Toothless turned again. Hiccup held up his hand and laughed softly in disbelief when his hand became soaked. "Water in the sky?"

Every viking knew that the gods brought the rain, snow, and all other sorts of weather. Hiccup had always guessed that the gods sent the weather through the clouds that were almost always in the sky above Berk.

"Clouds! These are clouds!" Hiccup laughed louder as he slipped his other glove off to reach for the new sensation.

Toothless joined in with his companions laughter with his own rumbling chortle before diving for the next biggest cloud he could find.

The two weaved back and forth through the clouds until Hiccup was so soaked through and shivering that Toothless was forced to find a place to land. Still Hiccup was laughing even as his teeth chattered and his shoulders shook.

"No viking has ever touched a cloud! That was amazing bud." Hiccup said once he had changed into a dry outfit. He leaned into his dragon's side to enjoy the warmth that Toothless gave off. "Thank you. Thank you for everything Toothless."

Toothless cooed and nuzzled at Hiccup's damp hair. With careful control of his inner flame Toothless took in a deep breath and then let out a slow steady stream of heated air to help dry his human's hair.

The blind teen smiled and closed his eyes in contentment. For the first time since losing his sight Hiccup was happy. He didn't care about his lost sight; Toothless had just given him something that was irreplaceable.

If he hadn't lost his sight it was possible he would have never met Toothless. If he had to go through that entire night again Hiccup wouldn't have changed a thing. He couldn't imagine a world where Toothless wasn't there by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	10. Night Fury Magic

Night Fury Magic

Chapter 10

As soon as the cove was found Astrid sent Fishlegs to go and find either Gobber or one of the other adults leading search parties. She would have sent the twins, but she doubted they would make it half way before coming up with some prank to play.

"You sure you should do that?" Snotlout asked as Astrid began working her way down the rocky path that led down into the little cove.

Astrid rolled her eyes and used her axe to keep steady. "We need to find Hiccup. He could have fallen down that cliff face like you almost did."

Still, Astrid couldn't see any evidence of someone having fallen. The more she looked around though the more she began to find signs that worried her.

All along the rock face were deep gouges from what she could only assume were claws. A few burned areas looked like remnants from fire blasts. Once in the cove Astrid found a pitch black coin shaped object that she could only assume was a dragon scale.

"Hiccup? Where are you?" Astrid whispered worriedly into the air as she continued to look around desperately for her lost friend.

"Astrid! Isn't this Hiccup's?"

Ruffnut's question grabbed Astrid's attention and she hurried over.

In the twin's hand was a small dagger that Hiccup usually kept under his vest.

* * *

Once Hiccup was dry again the two were up in the air and heading south again. This time though Toothless was forced to fly above the clouds in order to hide from any human eyes.

"We must be close to Outcast Island by now." Hiccup knew how long it took to get to the island by boat, but with how fast he was sure Toothless was flying they had to have made it by then.

Hiccup shivered convulsively as the cold seeped through his leather armor. The teen was finding it difficult to breath as well and it felt like he was fighting to gulp down as much air as he could.

Toothless could tell that his little human was having difficulty with the altitude, but he wasn't going to risk the outcasts seeing them. They were high enough that they could look like a bird, but the people in this are were insane and were known to follow after even birds just hoping to capture a dragon.

" _Just a little longer Hiccup."_ Toothless cooed at his human as he pushed himself to go faster.

They flew in the upper atmosphere for almost an hour before Hiccup began to blackout.

Having pushed the high flying for as long as possible Toothless finally began their descent. Thankfully they'd left the island full of the dangerous vikings behind them and Toothless was glad to see their destination in the distance.

"I need to land bud." Hiccup was having an easier time breathing again, but his legs were starting to hurt from sitting for so long.

Toothless crooned to show he understood, but he didn't want to land until they made it to the island. They were almost there and Toothless wouldn't feel safe until he was flying through familiar caves again.

Hiccup groaned as they continued to fly. Even though the two of them had only flown a few times together Hiccup could tell how Toothless was flying based on the muscles against Hiccup's legs. And what Hiccup could tell was that Toothless was not going to land any time soon.

"Please bud." The teen begged again only to have his dragon grumble and ignore him.

Over the course of the following hour Hiccup tried a couple more times to ask his night fury to land only to get silence in response. When Hiccup did finally feel Toothless tilt his wings down he couldn't help the sigh of relief.

Toothless could feel his wings aching from how fast he had pushed himself to fly, but he knew he would live. Thankfully the island he had once called home when he was younger was finally below them.

All Toothless had to do know was dive into the hidden cave entrance that could only be reached by a night fury plummeting from directly above it.

"Toothless?" The tilt of Toothless' wings was getting steeper and Hiccup could feel the pull of gravity trying to pull him free from the saddle once again. "Toothless!"

The only warning Hiccup got before the two of them began to plummet straight down was a gentle coo from the dragon beneath him.

Once again Hiccup was thankful for the harness he'd made to attach to the saddle to prevent him from falling off of Toothless' back. Still he screamed in surprise and fright as the speed of their free fall became faster and faster.

His heart was pounding so fast and he felt so light headed that at first Hiccup didn't notice the change in the air around him. It wasn't until his ears popped from the pressures and the echos of his voice came back to him that he realized that the two of them were no longer flying in the open air, but rather within a stone structure.

There was a tingling against Hiccup's ears, like a high pitch ring. The sound would dissipate for a moment only to return and make his ears ring and tingle. It took this happening a few times for Hiccup to figure out what was causing it.

"Toothless what's going on? Is that you?" Hiccup asked only to hear his soft spoken words come back to him. "Are we underground?"

Toothless smirked before letting out another ringing vibration. His human was so intelligent and Toothless couldn't help but feel pride over that fact.

" _Everything will be explained soon Hiccup."_ Toothless cooed. As his echo returned to him Toothless flung his wings wide and turned sharply to make his way through a side tunnel.

Hiccup felt his stomach turn at the sudden stop and turn that Toothless did. It was a good thing he'd eaten very little hours ago otherwise he would have gotten sick.

" _Just a little farther."_

"Wha-" Hiccup jolted in surprise when he heard something like a whisper against his ears. He couldn't make out the words, but he was sure he'd heard a voice.

Toothless' grin grew broader. They were almost to the middle of the huge system of caverns and already the magic of the place was affecting his human friend. Hiccup wouldn't be able to fully understand his dragon companion, but at least Toothless knew the magic was still strong enough to be useful.

Hiccup frowned into the darkness as he tried to process everything that was happening. He could tell they were underground, he knew Toothless was making some strange sound that tickled his ears, and he could have sworn he heard someone speak.

The teen boy was still processing everything when Toothless landed.

When his dragon's movements stopped Hiccup unconsciously climbed out of the saddle and placed a hand against Toothless' neck.

"What's this...this feeling?" He mumbled softly as he tilted his head back and forth.

All around him there was a strange buzzing feeling. It felt like the buzzing was pressing against his skin to learn his shape. When Hiccup reached up to touch his neck there was nothing there. The buzzing feeling though remained.

Toothless nudged at Hiccup with his tail to get him to move forward. Slowly his human companion took a step forward and then another.

The room they were in was pitch dark except for a single source at the center. Even then the light that was emitted seemed to stop a few feet away from the orb that it came from.

When they were close enough Toothless took Hiccup's hand gently in his mouth and pulled it forward until Hiccup's fingers were almost touching the smooth surface of the ancient orb. Toothless let go, but when Hiccup didn't do anything Toothless huffed and pushed at his human just hard enough to get Hiccup's hand to finally touch the gently glowing orb.

The green light that was coming from the orb grew in intensity the longer Hiccup's hand was touching the smooth surface of the orb. Unaware of what was happening with the orb Hiccup reached up his other hand to really examine what it was he was touching.

The buzzing had stopped, but a warmth against his hands had replaced it. It wasn't dangerous warm, like a fire was, but instead it was a gentle warmth like his dragon friend. Even the surface of the orb had the same smoothness of Toothless' scales.

"What is this bud?" Hiccup asked the air. He didn't expect an answer, but when he did get an answer Hiccup tried to jump away. His hands stuck fast to the orb and the buzzing returned.

" _This is what is left of the first night fury egg."_

Hiccup began to panic as he heard a voice near him. It sounded like a voice, and yet it felt like the voice that spoke was more in his head rather than from a person next to him.

Toothless cooed and nuzzled against Hiccup gently. " _There isn't much magic left, but there is enough left to give you a gift."_

As the warmth seeped through Hiccup the teen found that he couldn't speak. He was afraid, but at the same time the both the warmth and his dragon wrapped around him comforted him. He wanted to pull his hands away from the orb, but some strange force kept him in place.

And then it happened. It was like something snapped inside him. The buzzing and ringing around him suddenly grew clearer to his ears and each time the sound returned to him it was like a black and white image was built in his mind. Each time he heard a noise the image grew clearer, but any movement looked disjointed and moved stiffly as if Hiccup were blinking quickly.

Toothless watched with a mix of sadness and joy as the light from the egg slowly faded. Before the evil queen had captured him, Toothless had been the last protector of the ancient night fury magic. Now that magic lived within his Hiccup.

" _Welcome to the Isle of Night."_ Toothless very gently turned Hiccup until the boy was facing him completely. " _We have much to discuss."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	11. Isle of Night

Isle of Night

Chapter 11

" _Welcome to the Isle of Night,"_ Hiccup jumped when he was turned and the strange echo that seemed to stretch out around him revealed a large solid shape facing him. It took the teen a moment to realize that the shape that was sitting and staring at him was the dragon he had befriended. " _We have much to discuss."_

Not knowing what else to do, Hiccup fell backwards onto his behind. He could feel that his eyes were wide open, he knew he was staring at his friend, and yet Hiccup couldn't believe he was actually seeing Toothless. When Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut though the image was still there in his mind. He watched as His dragon friend stood up and slowly walked over to him.

When Toothless was close enough Hiccup reached out and brushed his fingers against the dragon's snout. It amazed Hiccup that the image in his mind told him exactly how far Toothless was from his reaching hand.

"This is amazing." Hiccup mumbled as he continued to use the strange picture in his head to really see Toothless for the first time. The image wasn't as clear as when he'd had his sight, and he had no idea what color Toothless was or what his eyes looked like, but Hiccup could see the shape of his dragon companion. Hiccup found that if he focused on the light buzzing around him his new 'sight' grew clear enough to even see the definitions of Toothless' muscles.

Toothless purred softly as his friend rubbed at the side of his head. He had been worried that his human friend would have gone into shock or denial, but once again Hiccup had surprised the night fury. Instead of getting angry or confused, Hiccup had remained his curious self after the initial shock wore off.

" _What the magic gave you isn't perfect sight...but it's enough that you'll be able to get around with practice."_ Toothless flopped down on the ground around Hiccup so that the two of them could become comfortable. " _Now that the magic is inside you, you'll be able to understand all dragons as well."_

Hiccup leaned back against his friend as he experimentally played with the buzzing that he seemed to give off constantly now. When he rubbed at his arm he couldn't physically feel the buzzing anymore; almost like it was under his skin.

"Did you know this would happen?"

Toothless hesitated for a moment before cooing. " _No, but I had hoped it would. Night Fury magic isn't precise. It's wild and does as it pleases."_ With training a night fury could harness their magic, but it took years to gain that sort of control.

Hiccup raised his hand in front of his face and watched as the buzzing echo went out and sort of bounced off his hand to form a picture. "What is this...buzzing feeling?"

 _"It's a hum. Night furies make it and when it hits solid surfaces it bounces off and returns so that we can see in dark places."_ Toothless explained happily. " _Other animals have something similar. Bats for example."_

Again the teen rubbed at his hands and arms trying to physically feel the buzzing. "It feels like it's inside me."

Toothless chuckled and bumped Hiccup with his tail. " _It is inside of you. Most creatures won't be able to hear the hum at all."_ The dragon pressed his snout against Hiccup's side and his ears moved around as he listened to the subsonic hum that his human friend was constantly giving off now. " _Some humans might feel the hum, but unless they have superior hearing they won't know what it is."_ And so far toothless had never come across a human with the hearing of a night fury.

"You said the magic is inside me? What...what do you mean?"

The dark night fury took a moment to consider his words. _"To explain that I need to tell you a bit of night fury history."_ It really was the best option that Toothless could come up with without confusing Hiccup. " _Legend says that a great long time ago there was one single dragon mother that laid hundreds of different eggs. Each egg hatched two of every dragon species. One of those eggs held the first two night furies."_

Hiccup cuddled down against Toothless' side as he listened to his dragon speak. The dragon's voice inside Hiccup's mind was soothing and melodic with a deep thrum that reminded Hiccup of the great hall back on Berk at night after most of the vikings had left to go to bed.

" _The eggs contained so much magic that they helped to form the world. Over time many of the eggs were lost or forgotten. We night furies were the last to keep hold of our egg."_ Toothless glanced over at the egg that had once held the magic that was now within Hiccup. It was already starting to look brittle and weak without the magic. " _Some say we have as much magic as we do because of how long we stayed close to our egg."_

Toothless sighed softly and closed his eyes in thought. " _Time passed until one day vikings found their way to our island. There was a mighty war between men and night furies. Many decided to go and find homes elsewhere while a few other bloodlines chose to stay."_ Toothless had been a very small hatchling when the first of the vikings had come and started the war. " _As more and more night furies left the magic in the egg seemed to weaken. Eventually I was the last one here."_

"I'm so sorry Toothless."

Toothless cooed and gently nuzzled into his friend's hand. " _It was well before your time Hiccup. Some time ago the Dragon Mother came to me in a dream. She told me to find a new vessel for the magic of the first egg. When I asked her how she told me I would one day meet someone that would be strong enough to contain all the raw wild magic. I thought perhaps it would be another dragon; I never dreamed it would be a human until I met you."_

Hiccup felt his cheeks redden in surprise and embarrassment. He wasn't all that special.

" _The Dragon Mother told me that once the new vessel was found the magic would grow and would help to create a more peaceful world for everyone."_

"I don't know about that." Hiccup knew he wasn't special; he'd been told all his life that he was a runt of a viking. "I think maybe you made a mistake. I'm just a runt; who would listen to me?"

A soft growl came from Toothless as he nudged at Hiccup's side. " _I listened. Vikings are so backwards. Runts are often the most intelligent of entire litters! They are the ones that find new ways to survive."_ He hated that the vikings had done so much damage to his little Companion. Hiccup was still a hatchling and had so much room to grow!

"Still...I don't think I will be able to do much."

Toothless didn't know how else to tell Hiccup that the boy had enormous potential. The magic wouldn't have chosen just anyone to become a vessel. All sorts of dragons had touched the first egg over the centuries and it was only Hiccup that had gained the wild magic.

" _You are special Hiccup. For now let's eat and rest. We'll leave for the northern nest in the morning."_ Toothless said with a sigh and a shake of his head. Hiccup would learn soon enough that he was special; Toothless just needed to support him until that day came.

"Northern nest?" Now that Toothless had mentioned eating Hiccup did find himself hungry. He stood up and with the help of the buzzing he was able to open up his saddle bags to find some fish jerky.

The dragon nodded and held still as he waited for his human to get what he needed. " _My parents told me of a great King that lives there before they passed on."_ Toothless neglected to mention that it had been a horrible human that had killed them. " _A gentle King that accepts all dragons into his domain."_

Hiccup offered some of his fish jerky to Toothless only for the dragon to turn his nose up at it. The boy shrugged and settled back down against Toothless' side with the jerky in hand.

"So we'll go up to this nest. Why not stay here though?" Hiccup asked as he took small bites from his jerky. "This place seems pretty remote."

 _"Dragon hunters frequent this area."_ Toothless explained. His tail lightly thumped against the floor of the cavern which kicked up a bit of the dust that had settled over the years of Toothless' absence. " _It is not safe even this deep in the caves."_

Hiccup knew about dragon hunters, he'd heard his father talk about them, but they never really went as far into the archipelago where Berk was. Johann would sometimes talk about the dragon hunters and the visiting chiefs would talk to Stoick about what the dragon hunters were up too.

"I'm sorry bud." Hiccup sighed sadly and shook his head. A year ago he would have supported dragon hunting, but now that he had gotten to know Toothless, had made friends with a dragon, Hiccup felt sick at the idea of people catching and killing dragons.

Toothless cooed and wrapped around Hiccup as much as he could. " _You have nothing to be sorry for."_ Still Toothless could feel the guilt coming from his friend. " _You've learned differently from other vikings. That's all that matters."_

 _"_ Yeah." Still Hiccup felt like he should do something to make things right. he'd been inventing tools for catching and harming dragons for years. None of them had ever worked, and usually caused more damage than the dragon's themselves, but Hiccup had still tried to hurt dragons.

Maybe with the magic Hiccup would have the chance to make things better. If he could see how great dragons were maybe he could teach others the truth as well.

" _Rest now. You've had a long day and tomorrow will be even longer."_ Toothless very carefully draped his wing over Hiccup to help seal in the heat that he gave off in order to make his human more comfortable. He heard his friend yawn and felt Hiccup lay down against his side. " _Dream well my Hiccup."_

* * *

"Stoick is going to be devastated." Gobber said softly as he held Hiccup's dagger and the dragon scale in his one hand. After examining the cove it was obvious that a dragon had made its home there for a time. Although there was no blood or signs of a struggle Hiccup's dagger made it clear that the blind lad had been in the cove. It wasn't difficult to make the conclusion that the dragon had done something to Hiccup.

"We should search some more!" Astrid was not to far away from Gobber as she tried to rally the other teens. "Hiccup could still be out there!"

Gobber could hear the catch in Astrid's voice as she refused to accept Hiccup's death. The one handed blacksmith stowed the dagger and dragon scale and limped over to the red eyed girl.

"Lass...he's gone."

"No!" Astrid practically screamed as she lurched away from Gobber and the other teens near her. "There's no body! There's no blood! Look around!" Astrid flailed a hand to indicate the entire cove. "There was no fight! Whatever happened here Hiccup didn't die."

With a sad sigh Gobber took Astrid by the shoulder and gently turned her to the steep path out of the cove. "We'll keep searching, but for now we need to get back to the village."

Astrid felt like screaming and shaking everyone around her. How could they just give up like this?! In the year that she had gotten to know Hiccup she had found out just how strong he was. An average viking would have gone mad after losing their sight, but Hiccup had fought to keep going. He hadn't deserved what had happened to him and Astrid was determined to make sure Hiccup had a better life.

"Let go." She muttered as she pulled away from Gobber. Astrid stormed away and up the path. For now she'd do as the old blacksmith told her, but when Stoick got back she would make sure he knew how easily the tribe gave up the search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	12. There Be Trappers

There be Trappers

Chapter 12

As hungry as Toothless felt as Hiccup slept, he didn't want to move and disturb the human teen. It really had been a long day for the boy and Toothless didn't know the extent of change Hiccup would go through because of the night fury magic within him. The echo location was a lucky boon since Toothless had only been hoping for the two of them to be able to communicate.

Toothless knew that very few humans were able to handle magic; the few that he had seen were usually insane from trying to do to much with the wild magic they had access too. He would do everything he could to make sure Hiccup did not lose his mind to the forces that were now within him.

So the night fury let his human friend sleep in for as long as he wanted even as morning came and passed by them. It was't until mid morning when Hiccup finally did stir.

" _Good morning!"_ Toothless greeted happily as Hiccup stretched and sat up slowly.

"It wasn't a dream." Hiccup mumbled as his dragon's voice filled his mind. He smiled warmly and rubbed at Toothless' neck gently. "It's so strange knowing what you look like. I mean I had a general idea before, but being able to actually see your shape? It's...amazing."

Toothless chuckled and nudged at Hiccup until the teen was standing. " _Sound vision is very useful like that. It's not as clear in open spaces, but it can help you to see things that are close by."_

Hiccup felt curious as he listened to his friend. He wanted so much to just experiment with this new ability. He wanted to know exactly how the sound vision worked and how it created an image within his mind. He had a general idea as to how it worked at least.

" _We should eat and then leave."_ Now that Hiccup was awake Toothless wanted to be gone. Hunters and trappers frequented the area despite there being so few dragons around and Toothless didn't want to risk getting caught. He had to protect Hiccup no matter what now.

With a yawn and a stretch Hiccup stood up and nodded. "You wanted to go to that northern nest." Last night's conversation came back to Hiccup as he went over to his bag and reached in to grab what little dried food he had left.

Hiccup used his echo location to try and see into the bag, but it was interesting to note that the contents of the bag came back blurry for him. he wondered if perhaps different materials had different effects on the buzzing as it hit surfaces.

" _The northern nest would be the safest place to go."_ Toothless responded as he went over to the egg shell remains. Without the magic to sustain it time seemed to have finally caught up with the shell. It took years for the remains of a dragon's egg to weaken and disintegrate. The first night fury egg was several centuries years old. Toothless reached up with a claw and gently touched the shell only for it to crack under the gentle touch and collapse. The more brittle areas of the egg turned to dust and the larger pieces looked pock marked.

It was a shame that such a beautiful ancient artifact would become dust soon, but that was the way of life. Egg shells became dust to help line nests for future eggs or to help enrich the soil so that plants could grow in abundance; it was the circle of life.

"What's this bud?"

Hiccup's voice caught Toothless' attention and he turned away from the crumbling egg shell to see the human kneeling over a still water surface.

" _Be careful Hiccup."_ Toothless warned with a gentle chuckle. " _That particular tunnel is filled with water and leads out into the open ocean."_

The human reached out and lightly skimmed his fingers against the water. "It looks so strange with the sound vision. I mean it looks almost like a solid surface, but the more I focus on it the more the water ripples. Like when a rock skips across it."

Toothless wandered over to the water and sent his own echo location across the surface. " _It is because the sound vision creates vibrations that bounce off of surfaces. Water is flexible and moves when strong vibrations touch it."_

Hiccup listened intently as he 'watched' Toothless use his own humming sound to make the water ripple. He wondered if there was an actual physical reaction that could be seen with the naked eye or if the ripples could only be seen with the special sound vision. As an experiment he slipped his hand into the water and used his echo location again.

Outside of the water Hiccup could still see around fine, but from where his hand was under water Hiccup's vision shifted and moved in a way that made his head hurt.

The human boy reminded Toothless so much of a hatchling. Even Toothless had tried sticking his head in water when he'd first been learning how to use his echo location. " _Best not to do that yet."_ Toothless chuckled as Hiccup fell back looking a little ill. " _Sound Vision doesn't work so well in water. You'll need more practice before trying it again."_

"I wish you would have warned me before I stuck my hand in there!" Hiccup groaned and held his stomach. It took a few minutes for the spinning in his head to ease up.

A rumbling laugh from Toothless made Hiccup frown. After making sure his buzzing was as quiet as possible, Hiccup reached back into the water only to fling as much as he could over and onto his dragon friend.

The dragon laughter stopped as Toothless reeled back in surprise. It took a second for him to realize what had happened before he smirked devilishly and stuck his tail into the water. With a flick of his fins he splashed his human friend right back.

"Oh come on!" Hiccup cried out before laughing and falling back. "I only barely splashed you! Now I'm soaked through!"

Even though Hiccup was right in the fact that he was soaked from being splashed, steam rose up off of his body. Hiccup reached up to try and wring out some of the water that was inevitably in his hair only to find that his hair was already drying. "Huh?"

Toothless tilted his head in surprise and then pressed his snout against Hiccup's chest. They'd been around each other long enough now for Toothless to know everything physically about his friend. Hiccup was giving off so much warmth suddenly that it rivaled the heat that Toothless himself radiated. As soon as most of the water had evaporated though Hiccup's temperature dropped back down.

"I'm guessing that little side effect is because of the magic?" Hiccup felt across his chest and over his clothes looking for any wet spots. Some of his leather clothes were still a little damp, but they were warm from what had just happened.

Toothless confirmed with a nod of his head. " _I don't know everything that the magic will have done to you. We will need to be alert for other changes."_

With the help of his new sound vision Hiccup was able to get the few things he had taken out of his bag and put them away. As soon as he was in the saddle once again Toothless was taking off.

" _I'll fly slow so you can practice with your new sound vision."_

It was a good thing that Toothless was flying slowly. There were so many caverns and tunnels branching off from the main tunnel they entered that Hiccup was momentarily disoriented. He was used to his human eyes so having an almost 360 panoramic view of the world around him left Hiccup unable to really take in everything at once. The best way he could handle all the information coming to him was to visualize himself drawing on a map as the information came to him.

" _Focus your echos in one direction at a time. It helps."_

As they flew Toothless continued to give Hiccup advice on how to control his new ability. It took some work, especially since it was his body giving off the buzzing and not his voice like Toothless did, but after some time he was able to narrow his vision down.

When Hiccup seemed to have gotten control over his new vision Toothless decided it was time to head out.

" _When we are outside you will want to soften your sounds as much as possible. The open air is too vast and you will see nothing but darkness."_ Toothless shivered as he remembered his first time using echo location when outside in the open sky. He'd felt so tiny and if his parents hadn't been with him Toothless was sure he would have crashed. " _Focus on me and just a few feet in front of you. It helps."_

When they did come out of the cave system Hiccup was glad to have listened to Toothless' advice. Even the few feet in front of him was disorienting and dark. He felt like he did when he'd first discovered his sight was gone. Thankfully the dragon beneath him was still a solid shape and Hiccup clung, both physically and mentally, to Toothless.

" _Will you be alright if we fly until midday?"_

Before Hiccup could even respond he heard something strange somewhere below them. It sounded like a man yelling.

" _Hold on!"_

Hiccup clung to the saddle as Toothless dove to avoid the bola that had been fired at them. Another bola whipped past them and Toothless cursed mentally as he tried to gain some altitude to get away. He should have been more careful when leaving the caves! He knew there were trappers in the area.

"What's going on Toothless?" Hiccup winced as his dragon turned sharply and blasted a net that was coming right at them. Something brushed past his head and Hiccup pressed himself even tighter against Toothless' back.

" _Trappers!"_ The trappers knew what they were doing too. They kept shooting bolas just above Toothless so that he couldn't fly higher. " _Hang on!"_ He only had one or two shots left and with how fast the nets and bolas were coming he didn't want to waste them. So Toothless dodged and weaved as best he could only to have a net suddenly wrap around him and Hiccup.

Toothless did his best to control his fall, but he felt the net being pulled in by the trappers. He growled and hissed at the boat full of trappers before firing one of his two last shots. He was able to hit the crank that was pulling them in, but by then a bola was able to wrap around tail closing his fins there. The best he could do was land on the only part of the ship where trappers were not on.

"Well, well, look what we have here boys!"

Hiccup knew they had landed so he used his buzzing in order to see more of the world around him. Behind them was a wall of some sort and ahead of them were several human shapes moving closer.

"By the grace of the gods it's a Night Fury!"

"You stay away from us!" Hiccup cried out as the trappers moved closer. He reached into his vest only to curse and find that his knife wasn't there. The teen tried to climb off of Toothless in order to grab his staff and use it as a weapon, but Toothless snarled at Hiccup and used his wings to keep Hiccup in place.

"Don't worry lad, we'll get you free of the night fury." The trappers had misinterpreted the angry snarl coming from Toothless and moved in to try and get Hiccup free of the saddle.

Ignoring what his dragon wanted Hiccup freed himself from the saddle and grabbed his staff. He quickly jumped in front of Toothless and pointed the top of his staff at the trappers. "I won't let you touch either of us."

It was difficult keeping track of the trappers as they moved. With the sound vision Hiccup only saw disjointed movements from the other humans, but it was enough to know where they would come from. He might not have been a very good warrior, but he knew a bit about strategy and the best ways to surround a dragon.

The trappers stopped and many of them warily watched the lad as he waved his staff at them. "Captain, I think he's blind." One whispered to the trapper at the front of the group. The man pointed at Hiccup's glossed over misty eyes and repeated himself.

Seeing the same thing that his men noticed the captain waved a hand for his men to stop their advance. "We're not going to harm ye lad. My name is Eret and I am the captain of this vessel." He kept his voice calm and gentle so that the situation wouldn't explode. "I have a boy about yer age. I bet you two would be fast friends. Just come away from the beast before ye get hurt."

Hiccup swung his staff to point at the captain as the man held out his hand to him. "He's not a beast! Toothless is my friend and I won't let you hurt him!"

Eret pulled his hand away before it could get smacked. Blind the boy may be, his movements slow and jerky, but his hearing had to be strong if he could tell where Eret was. "We won't hurt the be- ahem. Toothless." Eret corrected himself quickly. He knew the value of a night fury and the dragon would be worth a great deal more alive than dead. Eret motioned for his men to start creeping to either side of Toothless. "Dragons aren't safe lad. You'll be safe with us."

Toothless snarled in pain when a spear was jabbed at his side. He used his tail to knock the man who had hurt him into the water. Another spear from his other side came at him and Toothless blasted the man in the chest.

"Toothless!" Hiccup had been so focused on Captain Eret that he had failed to see the human shapes sneaking to either side of his dragon. The teen grew angry and he turned his ghostly eyes back onto the man that had been speaking. Hiccup could feel his rage building like a fire inside his chest. A burning pressure filled his chest and stomach making Hiccup feel sick. The feeling only got worse as the other trappers raised their weapons and nets again and approached them.

"STAY AWAY." Hiccup yelled. The rage that had filled him exploded and what felt like burning gas filled his mouth. Hiccup felt like his face was suddenly inches from a raging fire only for the air to cool. There were screams coming from the trappers and Hiccup was able to see with his sound vision as chaos took hold of the trappers.

_"Get On!"_

In a dizzying daze Hiccup climbed back onto Toothless' back. The dragon took off so suddenly that Hiccup ended up dropping his staff before he could securely fasten it to the saddle.

"W-what happened?" The boy asked weakly as his dark world spun. He had forgotten to dim his buzzing as they took off so all he saw was the vast emptiness of the open sky.

Toothless hesitated as he flew as hard and as fast as he could away from the trappers and their burning ship.

"Toothless..." Hiccup cleared his throat and grabbed his chest. He felt like he'd eaten freshly cooked fish that hadn't had time to cool. The skin of his face felt raw and red from sitting in front of a fire for too long. "Bud please."

" _You...You shot a plasma blast."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	13. Lines in the Sand

Lines in the Sand

Chapter 13

Hiccup was stunned for several long minutes after hearing what Toothless had to say. "I-I did what?"

The dark dragon let out a soft sigh. " _You shot a plasma blast. Like how I can."_

Toothless had no idea what to expect now. He had only planned on communication, not echo location and now plasma blasts! It would explain how Hiccup had been able to drastically raise his body temperature in order to dry off faster. " _How do you feel?"_

Hiccup coughed and cleared his throat a couple times. "Like I drank scalding tea." The raw feeling was starting to fade the longer Hiccup took deep breaths of the cool air. "My face still feels sunburned though." Hiccup gingerly touched his cheeks and winced when the flesh there stung.

" _I don't think you should do that again until we have a better understanding of how the magic changed you."_ Toothless could only protect Hiccup from other threats; there wasn't much the dragon could do to protect Hiccup from himself.

"Yeah." The fact that he could shoot plasma blasts though meant the two of them had a secret weapon to use in case they were ever cornered again. Maybe with some practice Hiccup could keep from getting hurt again. Still he wasn't too eager to go and practice shooting off plasma blasts any time soon.

"What did it look like?" Hiccup asked after a moment of thought. "It felt hot against my skin when it happened."

The dragon chuckled and shook his head. " _For your first plasma blast it was...acceptable."_ Most hatchlings only ever made a puff of smoke or a small spark. " _It wasn't very large and it didn't actually do damage, but it confused the trappers long enough for us to escape."_ Toothless hummed softly for a moment. " _It had a greenish blue tint as well. Mine are more blue and purple."_

If Hiccup hadn't been so surprised over the fact that he had actually shot a plasma blast he would have felt insulted over Toothless' assessment. "Is that strange? Mine being a different color?"

_"No. Plasma blasts range in greens, blues, and purples. Some even have reddish hues. Color doesn't mean much."_

The night fury fell silent as he pushed his wings to take them higher and faster. He made sure that the two of them flew as high as was safe to avoid any other trappers, vikings, or hunters. Every now and then Toothless would glance back at Hiccup who was deep in thought and frowning just a bit.

A weird rumble jolted Hiccup out of his thoughts and he looked at his dragon friend in surprise.

"When was the last time you ate?" Hiccup asked in surprise as he rubbed at Toothless' neck. Now that Hiccup thought about it the last time he knew Toothless had eaten had been when they'd rested at that sea stack. It felt like a lifetime ago after everything that had happened when in reality they had only left Berk a day and a half ago. If that.

Toothless' ears flattened a bit in embarrassment. " _Don't worry about me Hiccup. I'll be fine."_ He wanted to get as much distance covered as possible before the two of them needed to land.

Hiccup frowned deeply and he leaned back in his saddle so he was up against his saddle bag. With a sigh he reached to his side to grab his mask. "I'd rather we land and you eat something...but I don't want to risk more trappers or other vikings."

" _I'll be fine Hiccup. There were times in my past where I went weeks without food."_ Of course those times were rather recent. The queen that constantly had Berk raided was ravenous and had little regard for the dragons she controlled. Toothless' will power had only been strong enough to deny the queen to a point. he had been able to fight the order to steal food, but he'd still been forced to help the other dragons during their raiding.

"You sure?" Hiccup still felt worried about his friend. He knew what it was like to go hungry. Even though Hiccup had grown up as the chief's son there had been some nights he had decided not to eat anything just to avoid his tormentors. His father never knew about the days Hiccup went hungry so that the younger kids in the village could have a little more during the lean winters.

Toothless chuckled and glanced over his shoulder. " _I'm sure. We'll find a place to rest at noon and I'll eat then."_

Hiccup rubbed his thumbs over his eyeless mask. He wondered for a moment what was happening back on Berk before shaking his head to break up those thoughts. He had been an outcast there and only a couple people had ever tried to do anything to help him. Toothless had done more for Hiccup in a single day than any of the people back on the island. Still he couldn't help but think about Gobber and Astrid.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to go back?" Hiccup asked softly as he slipped his mask on only to take it back off when it stung his raw skin there.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Hiccup meant. " _Maybe one day."_ Toothless wasn't optimistic though. Humans that associated with dragons or had magic were usually exiled or worse, executed. If they ever did go back to Hiccup's birthplace then both of them would need to be stronger and prepared for anything.

Hours passed with little activity below them. Toothless kept a close eye on the ocean and whenever a boat was spotted, even if it was off on the horizon, the night fury adjusted his course so that they would avoid the vessel. He knew they were high enough that not even the best bola could reach them, but Toothless didn't want to take the chance on being followed.

During their flight Hiccup was mostly silent. He'd used a little of his meager store of burn ointment on his face to help ease the burns there. As an experiment Hiccup pulled out various things from his bag to see how they looked with the sound vision. Generally he only saw a single solid shape, but if he focused he could see smaller details. Cloth was the hardest to focus on and when the image formed in his mind it was like he could see through the cloth to some degree. Leather on the other hand showed up as a solid shape just like the coins he had brought with him.

" _There's a small island below us that looks deserted."_

Hiccup had been in the process of stacking objects on top of each other to see how his new vision would work. "No ships around?"

" _None to be seen. And I have excellent sight."_ Toothless puffed out his chest proudly before folding his wings some to land. " _To be safe stay within the treeline. I'll get us some lunch."_ The dragon knelt down so that his human could more easily climb out of the saddle. " _Call for me if anything happens."_

As confident as Toothless was that the island was deserted he wouldn't go too far. If worse came to worse he'd catch just a couple fish so that at least Hiccup could eat. When Hiccup hesitated to head for the trees Toothless smacked Hiccup on the back of his head with his tail. He laughed as the teen stumbled and cursed only to grin.

"I'll get you back for that, just you wait." Hiccup told Toothless with a snicker. He tried to smack at his dragon as the night fury laughed again, but Toothless darted out of his reach. "At least let me get my bag off your back so nothing gets wet!" Hiccup chased after Toothless awkwardly. He tried to follow the dragon's movements using the sound vision, but even when he focused completely on Toothless the night furies movements were still jerky and a little disjointed.

Hiccup was so focused on Toothless that he missed the curved branch sticking out of the sand. The teen boy yelped in surprise as his foot got caught in the branch and he tumbled into the sand. He rolled a couple times before stopping on his back with his arms outstretched around him.

For a moment all hiccup could see was an open vastness, but then a dragon's head blocked out the emptiness. "Haha, yeah, laugh it up." Hiccup told Toothless as the dragon chortled and made his strange sounding laughter. Hiccup cried out in disgust as a tongue playfully swiped across his hair and face. "Stop it! That doesn't come out!" Again Toothless licked at Hiccup's face even as the teen tried to push him away.

Toothless got in a few more very wet swipes of his tongue before he finally let Hiccup up to get his bag.

"That was disgusting." Hiccup complained as he pulled his bag lose and dropped it in the sand. He was still fighting to get most of the dragon slobber off when he noticed his face didn't hurt nearly as much as it used did before. "What?"

 _"Night Fury saliva has healing properties."_ Toothless told Hiccup proudly as he pranced over to the water. " _It's much better than that gross tasting plant stuff you used. I was just trying to help."_

"Help?! You just wanted to get my hair soaked, you useless reptile!" Even though he complained Hiccup was thankful for what his friend had done. He heard splashing as his dragon waded into the water to catch them some lunch. Hiccup just rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag again to carry it towards the trees that were clearing defined by his new sight.

Hiccup wondered if his own saliva now had healing properties though. His face had been burnt by the plasma blast, but his throat and mouth had healed relatively quickly afterwards. He thought about the possibilities as he sat down and leaned against one of the trees. If he had healing saliva then he'd be able to make more plasma blasts. The problem would be keeping his skin from burning.

His hand wandered down to the mask that was clipped to his side and he quickly picked it up. It would be possible to adjust his mask so that only the mouth was revealed. There were ways to treat wood and leather to be fire resistant, but after awhile they would wear away from the fire. The only material that was extremely fireproof was a dragon's scales.

Hiccup would talk to Toothless later about making a new mask. He had only brought so many tools with him and he doubted his curved needle would be able to pierce a dragon's scale. Maybe there would be a dragon at the northern nest with scales large enough to be made into armor. It was a neat idea and now that Hiccup could see, to some extent, he might be able to actually work as a blacksmith again!

As Hiccup settled against one of the trees Toothless busied himself with catching some fish for them. Luckily for him the two of them had landed during low tide which created an enclosed area in the water thanks to the rocks not to far out. There were plenty of fish that had gotten stuck in the enclosure thanks to the tide.

Toothless quickly ate his fill before catching several larger fish for Hiccup to eat. Happy with his success Toothless waded out of the water and carried to two fish over to his human. The dragon paused for a moment when he found Hiccup bent over and digging at the sand in front of him.

" _What are you doing?"_ Toothless asked as he brought the fish over and set them down on a large piece of bark that had washed up onto the beach.

Hiccup looked up and smiled at his dragon. "I'm just testing things out." He explained as he traced letters in the sand. "I can't really see anything details that are flat, but if I dig down a little I can see the grooves." It wasn't horribly useful information, but at least Hiccup knew he would be able to read and write again as long as it wasn't with ink and paper. Maybe he could use bark to carve letters into or maybe he could engrave rock or metal. It was such a huge discovery for Hiccup and he couldn't help but laugh and smile at the thought of being able to possibly draw again.

"Look! I think I drew you!" Hiccup said happily as he pointed at the design he'd etched out in the sand.

Toothless moved behind Hiccup so he could get a better look at the drawing. Sure enough the outline was the general shape of a night fury and Hiccup had done a fairly good job with getting the eyes in the right places as well. As he looked at it Hiccup dug his fingers in the sand again and continued adding to the drawing.

The movements intrigued Toothless and in a burst of inspiration he looked around and found the closest branch he could easily pull off a tree.

"Bud?"

Hiccup watched with his sound vision as Toothless stood up on his hind legs and began dragging something long around in the sand. He followed the movements and after a little while Hiccup started to see the grooves in the sand that the dragon was making. It wasn't a drawing exactly, and there wasn't really a pattern to the spirals and loops that Toothless made, but Hiccup could tell exactly what Toothless was doing.

He laughed and stood up to get a better view of the drawing that Toothless had made. The farther out he stretched his sound vision the more harder it became to see the grooves in the sand, but just the fact that he could tell the difference between the levels in the sand had him grinning from ear to ear.

Hiccup took a step forward only to hear a growl from his sitting dragon friend. The growl didn't have words and Toothless didn't say anything, but Hiccup quickly got the hint that he should not step on the line that Toothless had made. The night fury purred and cooed as Hiccup lifted his foot up only to growl again when Hiccup experimentally stepped on the line again.

The teen did that a couple times before carefully stepping over the line. Toothless purred and cooed louder to encourage Hiccup as the teen started stepping around and between each groove. The faster he moved the happier Toothless became.

Finally Hiccup ended up with his back against Toothless' chest and he felt the dragon's warm breath against his hair. "Thanks bud." Hiccup reached up and hugged his dragon around the neck. "Thank you so much!"

Tears came to Hiccup's eyes as he held onto his dragon. Thanks to his new vision he'd been able to avoid stepping on each and every line. His world was still dark, but thanks to Toothless it was no longer empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	14. The Love of a Father

The Love of a Father

Chapter 14

"The fleet is coming in!" A viking outside the killing ring yelled as Gobber continued his dragon training with his students.

Astrid instantly threw the hammer she had grabbed earlier after Snotlout had dropped it. The hammer flew through the air and smacked the Deadly Nadder hard against the side of it's head. She didn't have time to deal with the stupid lessons; she had to get to the chief before anyone convinced him that Hiccup really was dead.

The nadder squawked in pain and quickly retreated back to its pen. It'd been getting beat up all day and honestly it was tired of it.

"I guess class is over." Gobber sighed softly as Astrid was already out of the arena even before he spoke. He was worried about the Hofferson girl, but what could be done? She was still the best trainee he had in class and if anything she was training even harder.

"Hey babe wait up!" Snotlout dropped his shield to hurry after Astrid as she stormed away.

Astrid growled in irritation and she just as Snotlout reached her. With a great deal of practice and perfect aim Astrid landed her fist between Snotlout's eyes. She was turned around and stomping off even before the teen was on the ground.

"Good talk babe! I'll s-see you at dinner!" Snotlout called out from the ground before groaning and rubbing at his now broken nose.

Gobber shook his head and limped over to the new heir to help him up. "Ye know she's in a foul temper. Why antagonize her?" When Snotlout was back on his feet Gobber got a better look at his nose. "Tis broken. Go see Gothi."

Snotlout tilted his head back to keep the blood from getting all over his shirt. "I lub her dats why." With Hiccup out of the way Snotlout's chances of marrying Astrid were almost perfect! He just had to keep trying to impress Astrid until she gave in. When his father returned Snotlout would talk to him about starting the marriage discussions.

Once again Gobber shook his head. "Just go see Gothi." With that he pushed at Snotlout so that he would start walking. With the fleet coming in Gobber needed to get to the chief to give him the bad news.

Unfortunately for him Astrid was a long younger and had two working legs so she made it to the docks well before Gobber did. She was trying to talk to the chief as he climbed up the long staircase from the docks.

"Not now Astrid. I want to get home." The girl wasn't making a lick of sense, going on and on about how the village had just given up the search and didn't seem to care at all. Her words were fast and disjointed and Stoick was too tired deal with her.

"Well," Gobber quickly spoke up to grab Stoick's attention away from Astrid. "At least ye found the nest."

"Not even close."

Gobber sighed and grabbed hold of the basket with Stoick's belongings so the chief could relax a little. "Doesn't look like ye lost too many ships this time." He glanced back at the docks and winced a little when he noticed how half the fleet was gone.

Stoick grumbled in irritation and rolled his shoulders. "Minimal casualties at least. The damned hell beasts were busying bringing in their haul when we attacked." He was glad to see that Berk was still in one piece and it didn't look like there had been a raid in awhile. As he looked around he finally noticed how many of the villagers were carefully avoiding his gaze. When he did finally catch the eye of someone they quickly ducked their head and hurried away.

There was a heavy feeling in the air, something that Stoick had only ever sensed once. Quickly he spun around and grabbed Gobber by the shoulder. "Where is he?" He demanded with a shake of his friend.

Gobber's face fell and he gently pulled his friend into an embrace. "He was gone for most of the time during the days you were gone. When he was here he relearning leather craft."

Stoick knew that face. He knew the words even before Gobber spoke. He yanked himself away from Gobber and glared around at the villagers. He had left knowing that the people of Berk would keep an eye on his son! The boy was blind and unable to properly protect himself! How could they just let him wander around on his own?

"Stoick." Gobber could see the storm brewing beneath the surface as his friend glared around. The villagers that were close by quickly scattered and ran for cover.

"How." Stoick's fists shook and he gnashed his teeth as he wanted for the response.

Gobber rubbed the back of his head and looked away. "We think a dragon got 'im."

In that moment Stoick saw red. Rage that he had thought he had buried a long time ago surfaced. With a mighty roar Stoick let out every ounce of pain, rage, sorrow, and guilt.

"Stoick..."

May of the vikings that had decided not to hide from their chief winced and hung their heads in shame. Their chief was hurting and many felt like they had failed him.

"I don't think Hiccup's dead."

A voice spoke up and cut through the red haze that Stoick had descended into. His head snapped around and he stared accusingly at the young Hofferson girl. She didn't cower from his gaze, she didn't hang her head, Astrid stood tall and resolute in her proclamation.

Stoick took slow measured steps as he stalked over to the girl. "What did you just say?" His voice was low and gruesome as he demanded Astrid to repeat herself.

Astrid felt her entire body quake, but she continued to stand straight and hold her ground even as her chief frightened her. "I don't think he's dead. We found his knife in a cove not far from the village. But there was no body. No blood. No signs of struggle."

She'd thought long and hard on the facts. The entire area had _looked_ like a dragon had been there, to some degree, but other than the dragon scales, a few minor scorch marks, and the shallow claw marks there really wasn't much evidence to there being a dragon. "I think he was kidnapped chief."

Stoick had enemies. Berk had enemies. One of the best ways to hurt the tribe would be to hurt the chief. It was well known that Stoick wasn't the most caring of father's, but he still loved his son in his own way.

"The girl is in mourning Stoick." Gobber said gently as he quickly tried to discourage the idea that Astrid had just planted. "Who would want to kidnap the wee lad? He doesn't have much power now that he's not the-"

"When was the last dragon raid?" Stoick demanded coldly. "Has there been much dragon activity?"

Gobber rubbed at his neck awkwardly. "Well no. But tha' doesn't mean a dragon couldn't 'ave taken 'im."

Stoick worked his mind quickly. Dragons only ever took vikings if there was a raid going on. Even then most of the time dragons avoided taking humans, even small defenseless children. Valka being taken had been his own fault for startling the dragon. Hiccup was scrawny and blind and would have come off as sickly and unappetizing.

"You two," Stoick pointed at Gobber and Astrid. "Come with me."

With that said he turned and began stomping his way to his home. He needed to think and he wanted all the facts of everything that had happened since he had taken the fleet out. "Spitelout get the rest of the supplies unloaded. Take the wounded to Gothi. I am not to be disturbed." With those final orders given out Stoick turned all his attention on finding out what had happened to his son.

* * *

"How far is this nest we're going to Toothless?" Hiccup asked with a groan. He was practically flopped across his dragon's neck and he was very bored. There was only so much practicing with his sound vision he could do on the back of a flying dragon. If he had his knife he would have tried carving a piece of wood or something during the flight, to see if he could, but he didn't even have that.

" _Another day."_ They'd already been flying for most of a day and after they'd eaten lunch the two of them had taken to the air once more. Toothless was being as careful as possible with their flight, staying high and flying as fast as he could without straining himself.

Toothless could push himself in spurts so that they could make up some of the time, but they would risk vikings noticing them even as high as they were. There was one option...but Toothless didn't know what effect it would have on Hiccup. Then again the magic that was within Hiccup might actually protect him.

" _Hiccup,"_ Once Toothless was sure Hiccup was paying attention he shared the idea. " _Night furies are the fastest dragons in the world. When we reach our top speed we create a large boom and nothing can catch us."_ When hiccup didn't ask any questions Toothless continued " _In short bursts other living things we may be carrying can survive. But-"_

"If you go too long the creatures die." It made sense. Humans especially were not built to fly or move as fast as dragons. "Do you think the night fury magic would protect me?"

Toothless hummed in thought as he considered it. " _Possibly. We could test it out by flying in short bursts and make the flights progressively longer."_ Toothless didn't want to harm his friend in any way, shape, or form.

Hiccup nodded and slipped his mask on. "It won't hurt to try."

 _"Stay as close to me as you can get. And hang on tight."_ Even with the saddle harness Toothless was afraid that Hiccup might fall off from the sheer force.

The teen wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck as he hunkered down. He made sure his mask was snug and properly tied before tapping at Toothless' neck. "Ready."

Toothless took a deep breath to steady his nerves before adjusting his wings and tail. Just to be on the safe side Toothless flew up into a cloud before increasing his speed exponentially.

Hiccup wished he had had something to cove his ears as his night fury suddenly went so fast that he created some sort of loud booming sound. As it was his hand were too busy hanging on to Toothless for dear life as the wind created by the sheer speed pulled at Hiccup. His hands felt chilled and it was only thanks to his mask that his face didn't feel the same.

At the count of five Toothless slowed back down to see how Hiccup had fared. Those five seconds of travel though had saved them a couple hours.

" _How are you?"_

As they slowed down Hiccup slowly unwrapped from around Toothless. "I can't hear much." He admitted as he reached up to rub at his ears. "Good thing your voice is in my head." Hiccup couldn't hear it, but he could feel Toothless as he rumbled with laughter. The ringing in his ears did fade after a few minutes.

"Well I'm still alive and I can hear again." Hiccup checked his harness and was content to find that everything was still in place.

The two discussed what to do next and in the end it was decided that Toothless would continue to his little speed jumps while slowly increasing the time spent at the high speeds for each jump.

By the 20th jump Hiccup had to call for a break.

"My chest feels like you're sitting on it." The teen groaned as he slumped against Toothless. "And my arms are tired from hanging on. If we do another jump I don't think I'll be able to hold on."

Toothless cooed in sympathy and looked back at his friend. " _That's fine. We're about five or so hours out now. We'll rest on one of the islands below and fly out first thing in the morning."_ As much as Toothless wanted to make it to the nest before night fall he knew it wouldn't be possible. It would probably be best if they made their approach during the day anyway. So he'd just fly them as close as possible, set down, and the two of them would rest until morning.

Hiccup sighed in relief. His joints all ached from the pressure of the high speeds and even his harness felt uncomfortable around his waist. "Land carefully ok? I'm going to take this thing off." He felt bruised and abused and when Hiccup did take off the harness he lifted his shirt a bit and winced at the bruises there. The night fury magic was protecting him, for the most part, but his body was still human and he wasn't used to the abuse yet.

The dragon nodded and slowly made his way towards the clouds below them. He was about to fall into a light dive when a movement in the clouds around him caught his attention. He growled softly and his eyes narrowed as the clouds continued to swirl in a way caused by wing beats.

"What's wrong bud?" Hiccup asked as his dragon stopped his steady downfall.

" _We have company."_ Just as Toothless spoke a large dragon emerged with mighty wing beats from the clouds. Cloud wisps swirled around the dragon as it's wings suddenly split so that two sets beat in unison. The larger dragon's eyes were sharp and it let out a low roar that made Toothless snarl back at him. At first Toothless didn't see him, but upon the dragon's back stood an oddly shaped creature. It had a body of a human, but upon it's head were several long horns stretching back from the top of its head and two tusks protruding from the front. In one of the creature's hands was an odd staff that jingled and whistled slightly from the wind the large dragon created.

"Another dragon?" Hiccup whispered as he sat up a bit so he could focus his echo location past Toothless and towards the object in front of them. There was only a single shape that his buzzing bounced off of and he gulped nervously. The beast in front of them was one of the largest dragons Hiccup had ever come across. "Let's get out of here bud!"

 _"Good idea."_ As soon as he felt Hiccup grabbing hold of him again Toothless dove. He prayed that with his smaller and sleeker shape he'd be able to out race the larger dragon.

"I think they're chasing us!" Hiccup told his dragon as he sent out more of his sound vision to try and see where the other dragon was. For a moment he was able to spot the other dragon, but as his echos came back to him realization dawned on him. "I think we're surrounded bud!"

Hiccup was right. As Toothless burst free of the clouds dozens, maybe hundreds, of dragons flocked around them. Toothless wove and ducked away from the other dragons as they flew at them. It didn't take long for Toothless to figure out what they were aiming for.

" _Stay down!"_ Toothless ordered as he quickly spun away from another dragon that had reached out to try and grab Hiccup from his back.

As he spun away Toothless spotted the large dragon with the strangely shaped human on it's back and he roared loudly at them. They would not steal his human friend!

"Toothless!"

The other dragons were working together in an alarming way and as soon as Toothless had dodged away from one another had quickly dropped and wrapped their claws around Hiccup. Suddenly the night fury felt lighter and he roared in anger as the dragon that had grabbed Hiccup quickly flew away from him.

" _GIVE HIM BACK!"_ Toothless screamed as he charged up a plasma blast intending to shoot the offending dragon. Rage blinded him and he would have shot if it weren't for the hard blow that struck him in the back of the head.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup panicked as he watched his dragon, his best friend, fall. "Let me go! He's my friend!" Hiccup struggled and beat at the dragon's paws that were wrapped around him, but the dragon paid little attention. "Toothless!" He focused all of his sound vision on the shrinking form of his closest friend only to cry as he vanished with a loud splash. "No..." He hung limply in the dragon's paws as the flock flew silently towards their unknown destination. All the while Hiccup felt like his heart was shattering into many tiny pieces with the loss of his friend.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 14 is complete! There were a few hurdles that I had to jump over with redesigning this chapter so that it still, relatively, matched the movies. I mean Toothless can fly without Hiccup so the question was how did Valka get Hiccup away from Toothless?

I also have a tumblr where I post periodic updates on chapters I'm currently working on as well as random stuff that I find interesting. My ask box is always open as well!

Tumblr: ethrildragon

Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! Also if any of you like Yuri On Ice go and check out this great fanfic called Yutopia by Animefanime1. It's currently one of my favorites.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	15. A Mother's Guilt

A Mother's Guilt

Chapter 15

Hiccup didn't know for how long the flock of dragons flew; he felt numb to the world around him. Without Toothless, Hiccup's life was meaningless! Even with the new sight of his, thanks to his dragon, Hiccup didn't see a reason to live.

"Why would you do that?" Hiccup mumbled painfully as they flew. Why would this flock of dragons and their strange leader attack another dragon? Was it because he and Toothless had flown into this other dragon's territory? Hiccup knew dragons could be territorial, but to this extent?

The teen didn't expect an answer to his quiet question, but he was surprised a bit when the large four winged dragon flew low enough to enter is line of sound vision. The protrusion on its back moved around in such a way that told Hiccup that it was a separate entity from the dragon itself.

"I don't mean any harm!" Hiccup quickly told the dragon and the creature on its back. Should he tell this dragon and creature what he and Toothless had been planning? If these dragons were from the Northern nest it was possible they would see Hiccup as an enemy.

The four winged dragon flew off again leaving Hiccup to shiver uncomfortably against the dragon that was carrying him. The air was getting colder the farther they flew. The chill only got stronger when suddenly the dragon carrying him dove.

Suddenly Hiccup could see all around him again. The dragons were flying through a tunnel, but when Hiccup used his echo location on the walls the picture came back strange. He could tell there were walls, but it was like they weren't completely solid.

He was dropped suddenly onto the floor of a fairly large cavern. Most of the dragon flock flew off further into the tunnels, but a great many stayed to surround Hiccup where he sat on the cold ground.

"Please! I'm not your enemy!" Hiccup begged as the large four winged dragon landed several yards away. The humanoid shape that had been riding the great dragon jumped down and stood there, silently watching as Hiccup felt around on the ground around him for anything he could grab.

There was a screech back the way they had come and Hiccup instantly turned his head towards the sound. "Toothless!" The teen scrambled up to his feet and instantly wrapped his arms around his dragon friend when he was placed on the ground next to Hiccup. "Bud I thought I had lost you!" Hiccup whispered into his dragon's neck as the tears that had dried up some time ago returned with new meaning. The cracks in his heart filled as he clung to the night fury that meant everything to him.

Toothless was still disoriented from the blow to his head, but at least he was alive and back with his little human. He cooed soothingly to help calm his sobbing Hiccup before turning his narrowed eyes towards the dragon and his strange companion.

" _You didn't need to attack us."_ Toothless stated with an angry hiss. His wing came around to cover Hiccup and block him from the view of the other dragons. He needed to calm Hiccup before the night fury magic could flare up and cause problems; like back on the trapper ship. " _The boy is under my protection. We were coming here anyway to seek shelter from the Great King."_

The four winged dragon tilted his head at Toothless, contemplating what the night fury said to him. After a moment the dragon lowered its great head to look at the human shaped creature next to it.

Hiccup's desperate sobbing ebbed and he quickly wiped his eyes and cheeks. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart. "I thought you were dead." Hiccup mumbled softly as he rubbed his hands up and down Toothless' neck. He quickly felt around and sighed a bit in relief when he felt that Toothless still had his saddle and Hiccup's bag. Hiccup was sure his belongings were soaked, but he'd worry about that later.

Now that he was positive his friend was a live and not just a figment of his imagination, Hiccup physically turned to face their kidnappers. He found it easier to focus his new sound vision if he was facing the direction he wanted it to go in.

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, to say anything, but then his mind blanked. What could he say that would make these dragons understand that he was on their side? That he wasn't a dragon killing viking? It wasn't like he knew much about dragons outside of what had been taught by Gobber and what Toothless had taught him. He didn't have any fish he could give as a sign of good will either. So what could he do?

With a sigh Hiccup did the only thing he could. He took off his mask with shaking fingers and tied it to his belt. Once that was done he lifted his head up and opened his empty misty eyes to look straight ahead of him.

"We really do mean you no harm." How would these dragons react if he told them he could understand them? So far he wasn't hearing any of their voices the way he heard Toothless' and that worried Hiccup a little. "I mean...I'm just a blind runt. A hicc-"

The preteens words were caught in his throat when the human like figure crouched down and started to approach him. Hiccup took a step back in surprise as he watched the jerky movements in his mind and winced as the figure reached out to touch his face. He tilted his face away in preparation for the attack that he was sure was coming.

Toothless growled louder and louder the closer the stranger got. The person wasn't moving aggressively, but the night fury was prepared to attack if the movements turned malicious in any way.

There was a soft gasp and the hand that had been reaching out towards Hiccup withdrew quickly. "Could it be?"

The voice that Hiccup heard wasn't in his head the way Toothless' voice did. In fact it sounded almost feminine except for the words cracking a breaking slightly from disuse. Slowly, hesitantly, Hiccup turned his head towards the person the voice came from.

Hiccup wished he still had his regular vision. The sound vision was useful, but it only showed him dark shapes against each other and when multiple shapes were next to each other they blended into one big shape. It was only because the other human was so close that their shape was defined as well as it was.

"Hiccup?"

His name had been the last thing he would have expected this person to say. "D-do I know you?" Hiccup asked with a stuttering breath. A chill went through him and the teen pressed back against his dragon to fight off the cold that was seeping in through his clothes.

"No..." The human shape moved back and away, hunched over as if afraid or in apology. "You were just a babe...but a mother never forgets."

It took a moment for the woman's words to really filter through Hiccup's mind. "M-mother?!" It was a good thing he was already leaning against Toothless otherwise he might have fallen back from his shock. Hiccup's mind was in turmoil as it worked quickly to figure out exactly what had just happened. "That can't be right. My mother was killed by dragons." At least that was what Gobber and his father had always told him.

"Well," There seemed to be a little mirth in the woman's voice as she replied to that. "I suppose vikings would think that when someone is carried off by a dragon." She chuckled softly before going back over to her four winged dragon. "But Cloudjumper would never hurt me. He just knew I belonged here."

Hiccup felt like his heart was trying to escape from his chest. Blood rushed to his head and there was a thick pressure in his ears that made it difficult to hear anything.

" _Hiccup?"_ Toothless was becoming more and more concerned the faster his little human started breathing.

"You were alive this entire time." Hiccup whispered in disbelief. All these years of it being just him and his father, believing that his mother was dead, and here she was alive and with a bunch of dragons! He knew he'd only been a baby when she'd been taken, but had she ever loved him? Did she ever try to return to him? "I was a baby! I needed you!"

Anger, sorrow, confusion, and a myriad of other emotions welled up within Hiccup. His hands shook as he reached up to cover his face to try and keep himself from crying. There was a strange quiet snapping sound and what felt like tiny Terrible Terror claws were scratching against his cheeks. There was a pinch and a sharp pain on his bottom lip as well and the copper tang of blood slid across his tongue.

" _Hiccup! Calm down!"_

Toothless felt frantic as suddenly his friend was bleeding from claws that were growing from his fingers and fangs that were elongating from his teeth. He could feel the night fury magic flaring to life inside Hiccup and changing him even further as the boy's emotions grew stronger and more out of control.

"Did you even care?!" Hiccup couldn't even hear his dragon friend as his rage built up. A part of him was scared at the anger that he felt. Never before had he ever felt this angry! "Did you ever wonder if I was still alive?!"

Hiccup had always wondered what it would have been like to have had a mother. Having grown up thinking Valka was dead had left Hiccup with a sense of loss and yearning that he had tried to fill by earning his father's praise. His father had always told him that his mother had died saving him as a baby so Hiccup had tried his hardest to try and be the son his father had wanted. He had watched the other children in the village with their parents and had grown envious. When it became obvious Hiccup wouldn't grow until a viking like body, and his father had grown distant, the boy had fought even harder to try and earn a place among his tribe.

Memories of watching the mothers of the village taking care of their children, listening to boasting fathers, and seeing happy children doused his rage and turned it into a freezing sadness.

Hiccup's hands went from his cheeks to grip at his arms as he slid down to his knees. Warmth was wrapping itself around him and Hiccup leaned into it like he was starving for warmth after a long winter.

" _Calm. Rest."_ Words were finally filtering through his ears and Hiccup felt his emotions drain out of him. He felt exhausted suddenly, but at least the chill he had been feeling a few minutes ago was gone.

"Hiccup...what has happened to you?"

The teen hadn't realized he was starting to nod off until his name was called. "This and that really." Now that he'd gotten his anger out of the way, for the most part at least, Hiccup could feel his dry sense of humor returning. "Got attacked by a dragon, got saved by a dragon, now I think I'm becoming a dragon." His cheeks hurt and Hiccup realized he'd caused the pain to himself with a new set of nearly black claws that had replaced his human nails. A giggle bubbled up in his chest as his nails clicked together while he wiggled his fingers. "I'd say the gods hate me, but they brought Toothless and me together."

Valka was at a loss. She'd never imagined she'd ever get to see her son again and it'd been years since she'd last fantasized about how her son's life must have turned out. In all her dreaming though she'd never once thought that her son would grow claws and fangs.

"Mm tired." Hiccup's eyes drifted closed and all at once he was sound asleep against his dragon's side.

For a moment Valka stood frozen as her son just fell asleep right there on the cold cave floor against the night fury that was curling around him protectively. This wasn't right! Hiccup was supposed to be safe back on Berk where his father could protect him! "Can you carry him?" She asked softly as she held out a hand for the night fury to sniff at cautiously.

Once Toothless had accepted Valka's scent she continued speaking. "He'll catch cold out here. We best move him to my home."

Home. Guilt washed over Valka as she watched Toothless carefully nudge and move Hiccup until the young teen was on his back. She had lived with dragons for so long her home looked nothing like what a viking would be used too. She had no idea what foods Hiccup liked and she hadn't exactly practiced decent cooking in years. Would he even be alright with fish cooked over a fire?

The majority of dragons had left when Valka had stopped trying to be intimidating. The few that had remained only chose to leave when Valka gently waved them away. By the time Toothless had Hiccup safely on his back the only dragon that remained was the four winged one that Valka had been riding on.

" _What have you done to the little human?"_

Toothless looked at the four winged dragon sharply when he decided to finally speak. Up to that point all the dragons had either only spoken to each other or had remained silent. This was the first time one of them had spoken directly to Toothless.

" _What I had to."_

With that said Toothless followed after the human that claimed to be Hiccup's lost mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr!
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


	16. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup and Valka very slowly talk to each other while Stoick searches for signs of what happened to his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summar: Blinded while saving a fellow Berkian during a dragon raid, Hiccup Haddock struggles to find a way to be at least somewhat useful to his tribe. One day he finally gives up hope and wanders into the forest hoping to find a swift death only to stumble upon something that will change his life forever.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not nor nor have I ever owned anything that has to do with How To Train Your Dragon. I do own my own ideas and characters.

 

Baby Steps

Chapter 16

Hiccup could hear voices not to far from him, but there was a headache in the back of his head that made it difficult to actually comprehend what was being said.

Once he was awake Hiccup tried to sit up. A pressure on his chest kept him from moving though and when he investigated with his hands he found a terrible terror sitting there.

It took him a moment before Hiccup realized his sound vision was almost completely silent, the vibrations were barely there. At first he was worried, but as soon as he thought about it the vibrations picked up again and the world that he had barely been able to see became focused again.

There was indeed a terrible terror on his chest and it had it's head turned towards him in curiosity.

"Hey." Hiccup's voice broke a little and he had to clear his throat before even attempting to speak again.

"Hiccup!" A gruff feminine voice not to far away quickly spoke up and it took Hiccup a moment to remember what had happened before he had passed out. When hands touched his arm Hiccup wrenched himself back and away.

The terrible terror scrambled off of his chest as the hand that had touched him pulled away. Toothless had firmly planted himself between Hiccup's supposed mother and Hiccup himself.

 _"You will not touch him._ " Toothless hissed at the woman before turning to examine his little human who was now holding his head in pain. " _Are you alright?_ "

"Headache." Hiccup moaned in response and he quickly retracted his sound vision to see if that would help. He could barely see a few inches around him, but it helped. He rubbed at his head only for Toothless to nudge at Hiccup's arm to get his hand away from his head. "Toothless what?"

Toothless hesitated before setting his head on Hiccup's lap. " _Be careful. You have claws now."_

Hiccup vaguely remembered the pain in his cheeks and the anger that he had felt. The events of before came back to him swiftly and with such clarity he started growling.

"You claimed to be my mother." Hiccup's voice was icy cold as he turned his empty eyes to stare in the direction of Valka. The rage he had felt before was still there, but he felt more in control over it then before.

Valka swallowed thickly. She couldn't look away from her son's scarred eyes. She could remember how beautiful his eyes had been as a baby, as green as a forest in the springtime, but now they were so gray and lifeless. When had he lost his sight and how?

"I am." She looked away finally when the night fury cooed gently at his human companion. "Staying away from you broke my heart each and every day."

Hiccup growled sharply before he slid out of the cot he had been on to cling to Toothless' neck. "Then why did you?" He refused to use even his sound vision to look at her. He didn't want to know what she looked like and if he could have he would have blocked out her voice.

There was hesitation there, but Valka did speak. "Because I knew Berk would never understand." She could feel that Cloudjumper was behind her and she turned to rub at his lowered head. "They would never stop killing dragons and I...I could never again harm them."

Hiccup could understand that much. After meeting Toothless and having gotten to know him, Hiccup knew he could never harm dragons again.

"You could have at least visited." Hiccup snarled. "You could have come up with a story about travelling or something! Vikings explore all the time!" There were so many ways Valka could have been around if only she had tried.

Valka hung her head in shame. Her son was right, but she had been a coward. She had been so afraid of what Stoick would have done once he found out she was alive. As much as she had loved the man she knew how controlling and protective he could be.

" _That's enough for now."_ Toothless told his little human softly. " _Let us focus on you._ "

The night fury magic had been so strong before that Toothless was worried there had been more changes to Hiccup then just claws and fangs.

"How long was I out?" Hiccup asked as Toothless asked him to raise his hands up so the night fury could get a closer look at his new claws.

"Just a few hours."

Hiccup's empty eyes flicked up in annoyance at the woman that had spoken. "I was talking to Toothless."

He had to remind himself that humans typically didn't hear dragons when they spoke so talking to them and expecting a reply wasn't normal.

Valka inhaled sharply. "So you really can understand him?" She hadn't believed it earlier when Hiccup had mentioned turning into a dragon.

"Yes." As much as Hiccup wanted to ignore the woman not far from him he knew it would be best if he at least answered some of her questions; if only to keep her from pestering him.

Toothless then asked Hiccup to open his mouth so he could get a closer look at the boy's teeth. Except for his molars, Hiccup's teeth had become pointed and sharp.

" _Can you retract them?_ " Toothless asked curiously. He explained the process and what he himself did to retract his teeth, but after a few minutes Hiccup shook his head.

The only other major change that Toothless had found, besides the boy's new teeth and his claws, was Hiccup's smell. Before the boy had smelled of metal, soot, and pine. Now there was an undertone of sulfur and something else that Toothless had only ever associated with himself and other night furies.

The night fury magic was getting stronger inside his boy.

Silence filled the small area of Valka's home once Toothless was done checking his boy over.

"Are you hungry?" It was the first thing Valka could think of to break the tension that she could feel between herself and her son.

Hiccup was about to deny it, but his stomach spoke up for him. He looked away and rubbed at the spot.

" _It's best you eat. We don't know how the night fury magic will effect you so it's best to eat when you can_." Toothless disliked the woman that claimed to be Hiccup's mother, but he wanted to keep Hiccup healthy and strong.

After a moment of thought Hiccup nodded. His companion had a point and he was pretty sure if he tried to deny food Toothless would find a way to make him eat.

Valka tried to strike up a conversation as she started cooking the fish she had on hand for her son. He only ever nodded or made little sounds whenever she asked him a question and it left her feeling shattered.

"Hiccup...what happened..." She finally asked once the fish was done and she handed it over. "Your eyes...your anger..." He kept his head tilted down to keep his eyes from her. "A boy your age should not have this much anger."

Memories surfaced in Hiccup's mind. Years of abuse, disgust, and contempt came with those memories and Hiccup almost lost his appetite.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a fish bone." Hiccup told his mother slowly and between bites of his fish. It tasted off to him, but not because it had been cooked by someone unknown to him. It was like...the fish was too dry for him and the taste of the cooked meat was just bland. "Vikings don't like fish bones."

Valka understood very well how vikings felt about those that did not look like vikings. She herself had always been thin, but she had been more easily accept because of her fair features and intelligence.

"I don't think dad knew what to do with me. He tried to toughen me up at first..." Hiccup shook his head at the vague memories of him and his dad going fishing when he'd been really little. "Gobber took me in as an apprentice. Not that it helped any."

The longer he spoke of his past the more Hiccup found he couldn't stop. He was angry with his mother, but he wanted her to understand that she'd really messed up by staying away. Hiccup wanted her to feel guilty for leaving him with a village full of people that had regretted his existence.

Hiccup stopped talking when he came to the night he had lost his sight.

For the past year Hiccup hadn't really allowed himself to think too much about that night. He still had nightmares of searing pain and endless darkness. Sometimes Astrid had pushed the subject to make him talk about it, but Hiccup had always pulled away as soon as it had become too much emotionally.

"A dragon blinded me." It was the simplest explanation Hiccup could give without delving into the pain of what had happened.

Valka felt ashamed as her son told her more and more of his life on Berk. She had put her trust in her husband to protect and love their son, and Stoick had failed. She had failed. Gobber had been a better parent to Hiccup and he wasn't even blood related to her son.

"Hiccup-"

"Can we...stop." Hiccup was done eating and his emotions felt raw after dragging up everything from his life. He could hear the pain in his mother's voice and he counted that as a victory.

Valka nodded and let the subject drop for now. She wanted desperately to hug her son close, to take away all of his pain, but the moment she reached out towards him the night fury that was curled around him growled at her.

Luckily she had an excuse to leave as Cloudjumper nudged at her.

"I'll be back...it's feeding time for the dragons." She waited to see if Toothless would join them. "I'll bring back some fish for your friend."

With that Valka and Cloudjumper were gone along with hundreds of other dragons that were taking off.

" _You didn't eat enough._ " Toothless commented as he uncurled from around Hiccup. Valka had a couple other fish already on sticks ready to cook so Toothless went over to figure out how to get the fish over the fire.

"Don't cook it." After two fish Hiccup had figured out why they tasted so wrong. The taste of fire and soot on the fish had ruined any flavor.

Toothless paused and glanced over at his companion. " _Humans need their meat cooked though._ "

Hiccup struggled with himself for a moment. "It tasted funny. Just give me the uncooked fish for a second."

Maybe the night fury magic had changed more about Hiccup than Toothless had first thought. He handed over the raw fish and watched as his Hiccup cautiously bit into the fish.

Flavor filled Hiccup's mouth and he started eating faster. The fish was delicious and so juicy compared to the cooked fish he had eaten earlier.

 _"Slow down or you'll make yourself sick._ " Toothless chuckled softly as Hiccup just ignored him and finished the fish he was eating.

Once the fish was done Hiccup licked his fingers clean. "So," he sighed happily and pat at the ground with one hand to encourage his friend to curl up with him again. "Sound vision, communication, plasma blasts, healing saliva, fangs, claws, and now a taste for raw fish." The list of all his changes was getting progressively longer. "Anything else you think I'll get?"

Toothless thought about it for a minute, his tail thumping softly against Hiccup's leg.

 _"I don't know."_ He was hesitating to really consider any other changes. " _Dragon magic is chaotic and hard to control. That's why dragons usually only depend on their fire and physical strengths."_ There were some dragons that didn't even have magic anymore.

"Ok. Then what other dragon things might I get besides magic?"

" _Maybe scales?_ " It was the next thing that Toothless could think of. " _That might be good actually. Dragon scales are fire proof and act as armor._ " Hiccup's mouth may be more fire resistant now thanks to the healing properties of the night fury saliva, but his skin was still that of human skin and could easily be burnt or pierced. Toothless did not like the idea of Hiccup being stabbed.

"Scales would be kinda cool." That reminded Hiccup of his thoughts from before they'd been caught by his mother and her flock of dragons. "I was thinking of making some armor out of dragon scales anyway."

Since they were in a huge dragon nest Toothless was sure they could find some loose scales on the ground.

The two continued to think up things that might change until Valka returned with a basket full of fish for Toothless.

The night fury hesitated and sniffed at the fish before eating one slowly. Finding nothing wrong with the first one Toothless dug into the rest.

"You told me of your life." Valka said slowly. She didn't sit down again, instead she began grooming Cloudjumper. "Would be alright if I told you of my life?"

Hiccup nodded. If he and Toothless were going to stay in the nest for any length of time he would have to know more about the nest. He could ask the dragons directly, Toothless was fairly sure his ability to communicate with dragons would transfer to other dragons besides night furies, but he would also need to deal with Valka as well.

Elation filled Valka when her son agreed to listen to her story. There was so much she wanted to share with her son, but with how angry he had been she had been afraid he wouldn't even give her a chance. She could still see the anger there, resting beneath his tense shoulders and his furrowed brow, but at least he was listening.

"Thank you." After those two words were spoken Valka began her tale.

* * *

"This is where you found his dagger?" Stoick asked as he looked around the little cove that Astrid and Gobber had brought him to.

The first day he and his expedition had gotten back Stoick had wanted to go out to the cove as quickly as possible, but his brother had been insistent on Stoick doing his chiefly duties.

Which had included overseeing the final test in dragon training.

As expected of her Astrid had won the right to slay her first dragon in the arena. The battle had been scheduled for the next day and as soon as Astrid had ended the life of the monstrous nightmare, she and Gobber had taken Stoick out to the cove.

Stoick could see the dragon claw marks on the sides of the cove, a few charred areas, and broken tree branches that had been been gathered up to create something like a shelter.

But Astrid had been right; there were no signs of a struggle or of a dragon attack.

If this really was the place his son had been attacked by a dragon then the dragon had swooped in and taken his son quickly and quietly.

Stoick was a better tracker than either Gobber or Astrid so he could see things that they couldn't. His wife Valka had taught him a few things before she'd been taken by the four winged demon.

"Hiccup came here often." Stoick commented as he looked around. Hiccup's foot prints and tracks had been mostly covered by the other humans that had trampled around, but there were still signs here and there.

A small pile of fish bones near one of the charred areas was a big sign that Hiccup had had meals here. The shelter wasn't very large, but it was most definitely large enough to give Hiccup shelter.

The dragon tracks though were almost on top of Hiccup's. As if the two had been right next to each other.

"The dragon was stalking Hiccup for some time." That was the only explanation for why the dragon's marks were so close to Hiccup's. "This is a very dangerous and smart demon. Sleek. Stealthy. It could go unseen."

"A night fury perhaps?" Gobber asked as he waited for his chief to finish his inspection of the cove.

Stoick only nodded before going to the large slab of rock that was marked with dragon fire. "It slept here."

Maybe the dragon hadn't been stalking Hiccup, but Hiccup had been stalking the dragon?

None of this made any sense! Hiccup was a blind boy, how could he have even gotten close to a dragon let alone a night fury?

"The dragon took Hiccup."

Astrid gasped quietly. She had been hoping Stoick would discredit the entire idea.

"But he wasn't taken here." Stoick was sure of it. His son had not been taken here. He had been here, so had a dragon that could be a night fury, but Hiccup hadn't been taken here.

Stoick left the cove and very slowly made his way back to the village. As he walked he took in everything along the trail. Every little broken twig, upturned rock, and footprint. The grass and undergrowth had been greatly worn down which affirmed Stoick's suspicion that Hiccup had gone to the cove often.

Finally they made it about halfway between the cove and the village. There were signs of someone moving around quickly and something heavy had been set down at one point.

"This is where Hiccup was taken."

But as Stoick looked around he couldn't comprehend how a dragon could have surprised Hiccup here of all places. The trees were too close together and there was no place for a dragon to swoop down and grab a human boy, even one as small as Hiccup.

The chief thought long and hard as he stared around him. Theoretically a dragon could have grabbed Hiccup, but there would have been signs of a struggle.

As he looked around Stoick took note of a small path that broke away from the one Hiccup had made. Stoick followed it silently, Gobber and Astrid following right after him. The trees quite suddenly ended and before them was a small stretch of sand and rocks where ocean waves lapped quietly.

"Chief?"

"I don't think a dragon took Hiccup." Stoick said slowly. There were human footprints in the sand and it looked like something had been dragged recently. "I think whoever took Hiccup made it look like a dragon did it."

"But why take such a wee lad? A blind wee lad?" Gobber asked with a frown.

Stoick knew why. Because it would hurt him. Even though he had given the title of heir to Snotlout, Hiccup was still his son. Stoick didn't show it, but he loved his son. And there only so many people that knew about it.

"Send a message to outcast island." Stoick growled out. "Find out if they know where my son is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up! Oh man I have so much to tell you guys!
> 
> First thing is that I'M GETTING MARRIED
> 
> So this last year has been filled with wedding planning, school, and work.
> 
> Next thing is that my dog got sick. He's still alive, but he had to have expensive surgery and they had to take his left ear because of cancer. So I've been struggling to pay his vet bills with what little work I've been able to get. And now there's something else going on with him and we have to take him back to the vet soon. Which means more bills.
> 
> School has been a pain in the butt as well.
> 
> Real life has taken away any free time I have had to write. If I had another source of steady income then I could probably write more often.
> 
> Anyway! I have a tumblr! Look me up: ethrildragon
> 
> I love answering questions and stuff on my tumblr.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr! 
> 
> http://ethrildragon.tumblr.com/


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